Dec. 9, 2004
Contact: Matt Schabert (210) 458-4930
Roadrunners go for two straight against Texas Southern Sunday
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SAN ANTONIO - Coming off a come-from-behind win at UTEP last weekend, the Texas-San Antonio women's basketball team will returns home to host the Texas Southern Tigers on Sunday, Dec. 12. Tip is set for 2 p.m. at the Convocation Center. The game can be heard live on the Roadrunner Radio Network (KSJL 810 AM / Listen Live) beginning with the pre-game show at 1:45 p.m.
UTSA Roadrunners (2-4)
vs.
Texas Southern Tigers (0-6)
Sunday, Dec. 12 • 2 p.m.
Convocation Center (5,100) • San Antonio, Texas
TIP-OFF
After a week off, the UTSA Roadrunners return to the Convocation Center today to host SWAC opponent Texas Southern ... UTSA is coming off a 54-50 come-from-behind win at UTEP last Saturday ... The UTEP victory was the Roadrunners’ first win away from San Antonio since a 71-46 victory at Texas State last February ... The Roadrunners rank first in the Southland Conference in assists and third in rebounds ... Senior Nicole Dunson returned at full-strength to lead UTSA with 18 points off the bench at UTEP.
THE SERIES
UTSA is 12-4 all-time against Texas Southern. UTSA edged the Tigers 57-55 in Houston last year and is 9-1 against TSU in games played in San Antonio.
A QUICK LOOK AT TSU
The Tigers enter today’s game with an 0-6 record, having lost to Kent State (79-48) and Monmouth (61-52) last weekend at the Rice University Tournament. The Tigers are led by Monica Okolo with 13.0 pointer per game.
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 67-54 at UTSA and 174-98 over a career that spans nine-plus years. She is assisted by Marianne Sevin, Lubomyr Lichonczak and Amber Prose. TSU head coach Claude Cummings (West Texas A&M, 1996) is in his second year as head mentor for the Tigers. He led TSU to an 11-17 finish in 2003-2004.
NEXT UP
UTSA travels to Denver, Colo., next weekend for the University of Denver Tournament. The Roadrunners face SMU on Saturday, Dec. 18 at noon and either Denver or Tennessee-Martin on Sunday, Dec. 19.
LAST TIME OUT (UTSA 54, UTEP 50)
EL PASO, Texas - Down by as many as 14 points in the second half at Texas-El Paso Saturday, the University of Texas at San Antonio women’s basketball team found some inspiration in seniors Kim Reed and Nicole Dunson.
Dunson netted a game – and career – high 18 points and hit two consecutive three-pointers in the final 1:30 to complete the double-digit comeback, while Reed tallied 13 points, including 11 in the second half, as the Roadrunners rallied to defeat the Miners 54-50 at the Haskins Center. UTSA, which won its first road game of the season, improved to 2-4, while UTEP fell to 2-3. It was the third consecutive victory for UTSA over UTEP.
Trailing 40-26 with 13:20 left in the game, UTSA outscored UTEP 18-5 over the next 9:17. Reed’s layup with 4:03 remaining left UTSA with a one-point deficit at 45-44. After a pair of field goals gave UTEP a 49-44 lead with 2:45 left in the game, Reed hit a free throw and Dunson drained her third of four treys on the night to trim the UTEP lead to only one, at 49-48, at the 1:18 mark.
Reed fouled UTEP’s Stephanie Rayos with 39 second remaining and UTSA still trailing 49-48. After Rayos missed the front end of a one-and-one, UTSA came down the floor where freshman Richelle Parks found Dunson open on the right side beyond the arc. Dunson, who has not played a full season since 2000-2001 at Central Florida, knocked down the go-ahead trey to give UTSA a 51-50 lead it never relinquished.
In the first half, UTSA held an 11-10 lead at the 10:09 mark, but the Miners put together an 11-0 run to lead 21-11 with 4:49 left before halftime after a Marta Dydek layup. UTSA trimmed the margin to seven twice, but settled for a 28-19 deficit at intermission.
After allowing UTEP to shoot 52 percent (13-of-25) in the first half, the Roadrunners held the Miners to only 28 percent in the second half (7-of-25). For the game, UTSA shot just 32 percent form the field (19-of-59) but only committed 12 turnovers, compared to 21 for the Miners. Junior Lacy Mingee tallied a season-high 10 points on four-of-six from the field, scoring all 10 in the first half. UTEP was led by Dydek with 10 points. UTEP out-rebounded UTSA 45-37 as Parks pulled down 11 caroms for the Roadrunners.
POUNDING THE BOARDS
Freshman Richelle Parks is averaging a team-high 9.7 rebounds per game with 58 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. Parks reached double figures in rebounds again at UTEP on Dec. 4 with 11, including 10 in the second hakf. The record for most rebounds in a season is held by Cindy Pavell (271) in 1981-82.
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Freshman Richelle Parks has posted two double-doubles so far this season. Northwestern State’s Amanda Bennett leads the league with three double-double performances in 2004-2005.
CAREER GREER
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 at Texas A&M on Nov. 30. 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 7.8 points per game this year and ranks first on the team at the free throw line, shooting 75 percent.
DELIGHTFUL DEBUT
Freshman Terrie Davis earned a spot in the starting lineup at Tulsa and has responded well, ranking second on the team with 19 assists. Davis also recorded a career high with six rebounds at Texas A&M on Nov. 30. She had nine points off the bench in her collegiate debut against TAMU-CC and 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 5.0 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game to rank second on the team. She has started all six games and scored a season-high 10 points with six rebounds in the 88-44 win against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 26. She netted eight points, six rebounds and four assists in the loss to Seton Hall on Nov. 27. Sandefur also ranks third on the team with 13 assists. She has played in 64 games over her career and has scored 378 career points.
RUNNING THE POINT
Senior Kim Reed was a big reason why the Roadrunners were able to overcome a 14-point second half deficit to win 54-50 at UTEP last Saturday. She scored 11 points in the second half and had five assists for the game. Reed ranks third in the conference in assists per game. She 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 7.5 points per game in 2004-2005. With 420 career points, the 5-7 guard from Dallas needs just 94 points to climb into 25th on the career scoring chart at UTSA.
SHE’S BACK
Senior Nicole Dunson returned at full-strength at UTEP and led the Roadrunners with 18 points off the bench. Dunson scored 15 points in the second half and hit the go-ahead three pointer with 32 seconds left in the game. She finished 4-of-8 from three-point range in 26 minutes of action. Dunson set a record for most three-pointers in a season at Central Florida as a freshman in 2000-2001, then missed the 2001-2202 with a right shoulder injury. She transferred to UTSA in 2002-2003, sat out per NCAA transfer rules, and then missed last year with a right knee injury. Dunson tore the meniscus in her right knee prior to this season and played sparingly in the UTSA Thanksgiving Tournament.
GIVE AND GO
UTSA is tied for first in the Southland Conference in assists per game. The Roadrunners are averaging 15.6 assists per game in 2004-2005, compared to 12.7 during the 2003-2004 season. Senior Kim Reed lead the Roadrunners with 3.8 assists per game to rank third in the SLC. With 204 career assists, Reed is 10th on the all-time career assist chart at UTSA, needing just 16 more to move into eighth place.
QUALITY MINUTES
Junior Lacy Mingee ranks third on the team with 3.7 rebounds per game and leads the team with six blocked shots. She ranks fifth on the team scoring 6.8 points per game, despite playing just 14 minutes per game. She gave the Roadrunners a lift in the first half at UTEP, scoring 10 points on 4-of-6 from the floor off the bench. Mingee has also scored 407 career points and needs just 107 to climb to 25th on the UTSA career scoring chart past Julie Rampley (513 pts, 2000-2002). She needs 91 rebounds to pass Soonja Robinson (299 rbs, 1995-98) into 22nd all-time.
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. The Roadrunners limited UTEP to only 28 percent (7-of-25) from the field in the second half of last Saturday’s game.
ELITE COMPANY
UTSA head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair is just 9 wins shy of becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history. At 67-54, Blair trails only Bill MacLeay (1984-89, 75-60) on the all-time list of UTSA coaches.
CALL UP THE RESERVES
The UTSA bench has outscored the opponent bench in three of the last five games. The UTSA bench is averaging 24.6 points per game this year, while opponents are getting 23.3 points from their reserves.
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.