Dec. 3, 2004
Contact: Matt Schabert (210) 458-4930
UTSA heads to El Paso for meeting with Miners
Complete Release | Listen Live (2:50 p.m. Central)
SAN ANTONIO - The Texas-San Antonio women's basketball team will travel to El Paso, Texas, for a non-conference contest at Texas-El Paso on Saturday, Dec. 4. Tip is set for 3:05 p.m. (Central time) at the Don Haskins Center. The game can be heard live on the Roadrunner Radio Network (KSJL 810 AM / Listen Live) beginning with the pre-game show at 2:50 p.m.
UTSA Roadrunners (1-4)
at
UTEP Miners (2-2)
Saturday, Dec. 4 • 3:05 p.m. (Central)
Don Haskins Center (12,000) • El Paso, Texas
TIP-OFF
UTSA travels out to the west Texas town of El Paso to battle the Miners of Texas-El Paso tonight ... The Roadrunners will be looking for their first road victory of the 2004-2005 season ... UTSA is coming off a 74-48 loss at Texas A&M on Tuesday, while the Miners dropped a 79-47 contest at Arizona on Monday ... The Roadrunners have out-rebounded three of their five opponents this season as freshman Richelle Parks ranks fourth in the conference with 9.4 rebounds per game ... UTSA has won the last two games in this series.
THE SERIES
The Roadrunners have a decisive 15-6 advantage in the all-time series, which began in 1981. UTSA won the first 11 games and has won the last two games, including a 52-49 win against UTEP last season.
A QUICK LOOK AT UTEP
The Miners were 16-13 a year ago and have started 2-2 this season with wins against University of Texas-Dallas and New Mexico State. The Miners have suffered double-digit losses at Arizona and Arkansas State. Kasia Krezel (11.3 ppg) and Angie McGee (10.3 ppg) lead the Miners.
THE COACHES
UTSA head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair (Oklahoma State, 1985), in her fifth year with the Roadrunners, is a two-time Southland Conference Coach of the Year (2001, 2003). She is 66-54 at UTSA and 173-98 over a career that spans nine-plus years. She is assisted by Marianne Sevin, Lubomyr Lichonczak and Amber Prose. UTEP head coach Keitha Green (Southwestern, 1989) is in her fourth year with the Miners. She is 31-59 at UTEP, her first head coaching stint.
NEXT UP
UTSA takes the week off before returning to the Convocation Center on Dec. 12 to host Texas Southern at 2 p.m in the first game of a doubleheader with the UTSA men’s team.
LAST TIME OUT (Texas A&M 74, UTSA 48)
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M took advantage of 33 Roadrunner turnovers to hand the University of Texas at San Antonio women’s basketball team a 74-48 loss Tuesday night at the Reed Center. UTSA, which fell to 1-4 on the season, held a one-point lead,19-18, halfway through the first half, but the Aggies constructed an 11-2 run and built a 33-23 halftime lead. Texas A&M improved to 4-1 as it held UTSA to just 31 percent (10-of-32) from the field in the second half and outscored the Roadrunners 41-25 in the final frame. Freshman Richelle Parks, who averages 9.5 rebounds per game, led UTSA as she nearly posted a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Senior Lyndsey Greer had nine points and grabbed seven rebounds, and the Roadrunners out-rebounded the Aggies 40-29. Tamea Scales led Texas A&M with 20 points, while Patrice Reado tallied 14 points, and Ashley Bolden added 11. The teams battled back-and-forth in the first portion of the initial half, with neither team holding more than a four-point lead. Greer’s layup at 8:15 gave the Roadrunners a 19-18 lead, but Texas A&M turned up the pressure defense and went on an 11-2 run to lead 29-21 with 1:31 remaining in the first half. Scales’ layup with 34 seconds left lifted the hosts to the 10-point lead at intermission. In the second half, the Aggies held UTSA to only two field goals in the first 4:49 and built as much as a 16-point lead (42-26) with 15:46 remaining. The Aggies continued to build on the lead and outscored UTSA 28-13 over the next 12 minutes to post their largest lead of the night at 31 (70-39) with 3:37 left in the game after a free throw by LaToya Gulley. For the game, UTSA shot 40 percent (21-of-52) from the floor, while the Aggies shot 47 percent (30-of-64) from the field.
POUNDING THE BOARDS
Freshman Richelle Parks is averaging a team-high 9.4 rebounds per game with 40 total caroms so far. The 5-11 center grabbed 14 rebounds in her collegiate debut against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and then posted her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 boards at Tulsa. She added another double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 60-59 loss to Seton Hall and was named to the all-tournament team for the Hampton Inn/UTSA Thanksgiving Classic. At Texas A&M, she nearly posted another double-double with a team-high 13 points and nine rebounds. The record for most rebounds in a season is held by Cindy Pavell (271) in 1981-82.
CH.CH.CH...CHANGES
Senior Lyndsey Greer has already established career highs for points and rebounds this season. Greer, who averaged 2.7 points last season, improved her career-best to 14 points in the 60-59 loss to Seton Hall on Nov. 27, and set a career high for rebounds with seven Tuesday at Texas A&M. She tied her career high with 10 points against TAMU-CC on Nov. 19 and then re-established it at Tulsa with 11 points. She is averaging 9.3 points per game this year and ranks second among the starters shooting 41 percent from the field.
DELIGHTFUL DEBUT
Freshman Terrie Davis earned a spot in the starting lineup at Tulsa and has responded well, leading the team with 19 assists. Davis also recorded a career high with six rebounds at Texas A&M Tuesday night. She had nine points off the bench in her collegiate debut against TAMU-CC, played all 40 minutes at Tulsa and connected on three-of-six from beyond the arc. She also started both games of the Thanksgiving Classic and currently leads the Roadrunners with six three-pointers made.
ROLE PLAYING
Junior forward Katie Sandefur, a native of Kingfisher, Okla., has settled into her starting role nicely this season with 5.6 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game to rank second on the team. She has started all five games and scored a season-high 10 points with six rebounds in the 88-44 win against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 26 and netted eight points, six rebounds and four assists in the loss to Seton Hall on Nov. 27. Sandefur ranks third on the team with 12 assists as well. She has played in 63 games over her career and has scored 376 career points.
GETTING CLOSER
Senior Kim Reed currently is the leading active career scoring leader for the Roadrunners. Reed, who averaged 4.8 points per game last year and came into the season with a 4.4 career scoring average, has stepped it up to 6.2 points per game in 2004-2005. With 407 career points, the 5-7 guard from Dallas needs just 107 points to climb into 25th on the career scoring chart at UTSA.
CHARITY TOSSES
Senior Lyndsey Greer leads the Roadrunners at the free throw line this year, hitting 83.3 percent (5-of-6) of her charity tosses, while senior Kim Reed is close behind at 81.8 percent (9-of-11). Head coach Blair would like to see the team percentage improve however, as the Roadrunners are shooting just 59.5 percent from the line (44-of-74).
DIALING LONG DISTANCE
UTSA nailed six three-pointers at Tulsa and added nine more in the Thanksgiving Classic. The Roadrunners are 23-of-68 (33.8 percent) on the season from behind the arc and are averaging just under five made 3-pointers per outing. Last season, UTSA averaged 4.2 treys per game and held opponents to just 3.3 three-balls per contest.
CAN I ASSIST YOU?
UTSA has done a good job of distributing the ball this season. The Roadrunners are averaging 17.9 assists per game in 2004-2005, compared to 12.7 during the 2003-2004 season. Freshman Terrie Davis and Senior Kim Reed lead the Roadrunners with 3.8 and 3.5 assists per game, respectively. Davis posted a team-high six assists in the 60-59 loss to Seton Hall on Nov. 27. With 199 career assists, Reed is 10th on the all-time career assist chart at UTSA, needing just 21 more to move into eighth place.
MANNING THE PAINT
Junior Lacy Mingee ranks third on the team with 4.2 rebounds per game and leads the team with five blocked shots. Mingee has also scored 397 career points and needs just 117 to climb to 25th on the UTSA career scoring chart past Julie Rampley (513 pts, 2000-2002). She needs 92 rebounds to pass Soonja Robinson (299 rbs, 1995-98) into 22nd all-time.
LOG JAM
Four players - Terrie Davis, Kim Reed, Tia Bogan and Lacy Mingee - are averaging between six and seven points per game.
WINNING COMES NATURALLY
In head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair’s first four seasons, the Roadrunners have averaged 16.3 wins per seasons. In the 23-year history of the program, UTSA has averaged 13.2 wins per season with 13 seasons finishing above .500.
A DEFENSIVE TRADITION
Under head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair, defense has been the key ingredient in the success of the Roadrunner program. Last season UTSA allowed opponents only 57.1 points per game, tops in the SLC for the third straight season, with opponents shooting only 37.5 percent from the field. UTSA ranked 20th nationally in scoring defense last year and has ranked among national team leaders in scoring defense every year with Blair. Against TAMU-CC on Nov. 19, UTSA held the Islanders to 37.9 percent shooting in the second half and just 40.6 percent for the game. In the 88-44 victory over Prairie View A&M on Nov. 26, the Roadrunners limited the Panthers to 27.0 percent shooting for the game.
INCHING CLOSER
UTSA head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair is just 10 wins shy of becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history. At 66-54, Blair trails only Bill MacLeay (1984-89, 75-60) on the all-time list of UTSA coaches.
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACK
According to a vote by the Southland Conference coaches, UTSA is projected for a fourth place finish in 2004-2005. The league’s SID’s selected UTSA fifth in the preseason vote.
THE KEY TO SUCCESS
Senior guard Kim Reed was recently honored by and inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society, a non-profit group recognizing academic accomplishments of college juniors and seniors. Reed graduated seventh in a class of 754 seniors at Dallas’ Skyline High School and has continued her classroom success in San Antonio. She has been recognized as a member of the UTSA Dean’s List, Honor Roll and Honor’s Circle.
SUPER SENIORS
The Roadrunners head into the season with no lack of senior leadership. Four seniors, including three with three letters under their belt, are on board to provide head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair with leadership. Leading the way this season are senior guards Kim Reed and Lyndsey Greer, and center Holly Ziegler. Guard Nicole Dunson transferred from Central Florida two years ago and hopes to finish her collegiate on the court after several years plagued by injuries.