Jan. 11, 2005
Contact: Matt Schabert (210) 458-4930
Roadrunners host Nicholls State in conference home opener Friday
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SAN ANTONIO - The UTSA women's basketball team hosts Nicholls State in the Southland Conference home opener on Friday, Jan. 14. Tip is set for 6 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
UTSA Roadrunners (6-7, 0-2 SLC)
vs.
Nicholls State Lady Colonels (3-10, 0-2 SLC
Friday, Jan. 14 • 6 p.m.
Convocation Center • San Antonio, Texas
TIP-OFF
The Roadrunners return home tonight hosting Nicholls State as UTSA guns for its first league victory this season ... The Roadrunners dropped a 75-72 contest at Louisiana-Monroe last Thursday and fell 54-49 at Northwestern State on Saturday ... In the ULM loss, UTSA held a 14-point second half edge but could not hold off the Lady Indians despite shooting a season best 56 percent from the field ... The Roadrunners are 4-2 at home this season are only allowin 5 51 points per game at mme .. Senior Nicole Dunson sports a streak of five consecutive double figure scoring games.
SERIES RECORD AGAINST THE LADY COLONELS
UTSA has claimed the last six meetings in this series to jump ahead of Nicholls State 20-10. The teams first met in 1989 with UTSA winning 59-54 and 72-64. Last season, the Roadrunners won 56-42 at Thibodaux and defeated NSU 79-60 at the Convocation Center
A QUICK LOOK AT THE LADY COLONELS
Nicholls State was 3-10 and 0-2 in the SLC before a Wednesday contest at Texas State. NSU is led by Nkechi Nwachukwu with 10.5 points per game.
LAST YEAR AGAINST NSU
UTSA defeated NSU 56-42 on Jan. 17 in Thibodaux. The Roadrunners shot 46 percent for the game and had a 29-16 halftime lead. Nikki Hendrix led the way with 15 points, while Lacy Mingee tallied 12. UTSA cruised to a 79-60 win on Jan. 31 as Hendrix poured in 26 points. Mingee notched 14 points and had six boards as UTSA shot 53 percent and rolled to a 45-27 lead at the break.
LAST TIME OUT
Northwestern State 54, UTSA 49 (Jan. 8 at Prather Coliseum)
UTSA fell to 0-2 in the Southland Conference with a 54-49 loss at Northwestern State. The Roadrunners, who shot just 27 percent for the game, cut the Lady Demon lead to two, at 51-49, with 22 seconds left but missed two free throws and a three-pointer n the final 20 seconds to absorb the loss. In the first half, UTSA saw NSU go on an 19-6 after the game was tied at four with 15:59 left. The run enabled the Lady Demons to build their largest lead of the first half at 23-10 with 7:45 left in the initial half. The Roadrunners then went on a 12-2 to trim the deficit to just three, at 25-22, with 2:46 left in the first half. UTSA was led by Nicole Dunson and Lacy Mingee with 14 points apiece.
UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY
UTSA has not been 0-2 to start the Southland Conference schedule since the 1999-2000 season. After losing to Sam Houston and Texas-Arlington that year to begin league play, the Roadrunners bounced back to defeat Southeastern Louisiana. During the 1992-93 through 1995-96 seasons, the Roadrunners began SLC play 0-3 every season during that four-year span.
FABULOUS FROSH
Freshman Richelle Parks is having one of the best debut seasons ever for the Roadrunners. Parks currently leads UTSA in scoring average (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (9.0) and ranks third in the league on the boards. At Louisiana-Monroe, Parks led UTSA with 18 points. She was recently named all-tournament at the UTSA New Year’s Classic by averaging 12.5 points in the Roadrunners’ two victories. Parks recorded her third double-double of the year against UT Martin on Dec. 19 with a freshman-record 26 points and a career high 17 rebounds, including going 10-of-13 from the free throw line. Against SMU on Dec. 18, she led UTSA with 16 points and eight rebounds 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. The record for most rebounds in a season is held by Cindy Pavell (271) in 1981-82.
DOUBLE DOUBLE DAYS
Richelle Parks has posted three double-doubles so far this season. Of the returning players in 2004-2005, only junior Lacy Mingee had recorded a double-double, picking up two last year.
GOING OUT IN STYLE
Senior Lyndsey Greer is making her senior year her best season yet as she 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. Against Northwestern State last Saturday, she tied her career high again with seven caroms. She is averaging 6.5 points per game this year to rank fifth on the team and ranks second on the team at the free throw line, shooting 73 percent. Greer also ranks first on the team in minutes played.
KATIE CAN DO IT ALL
Junior forward Katie Sandefur, a native of Kingfisher, Okla., is quietly having a productive season with 6.9 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game to rank second on the team. Sandefur established a season high with 15 points against Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 6. Haing shot only 14 free throws all year, Sandefur reached the line 11 times against the Lady Indians. She led the team against Samford on Dec. 30 with four assists. She narrowly missed a double-double against SMU on Dec. 18 with nine points and eight rebounds. She scored a season-high 13 points along with six rebounds and a season high six assists in the 41-33 win against Texas Southern on Dec. 12. She netted eight points, six rebounds and four assists in the loss to Seton Hall on Nov. 27. She has played in 71 games over her career and has scored 438 career points.
WE’RE GLAD YOU’RE BACK
Senior Kim Reed missed the UTSA New Year’s Classic with a thigh injury but returned in a limited role last weekend. Reed, who hadn’t missed a game since the 2002-2003 season, ranks fourth in the conference in assists per game, averaging 3.2. She set her season high with seven assists against UT Martin on Dec. 19 and has led UTSA in assists in five of the 11 games. 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 5.2 points per game in 2004-2005. With 432 career points, the 5-7 guard from Dallas needs just 82 points to climb into 25th on the career scoring chart at UTSA.
DOUBLE FIGURE STREAK
Senior Nicole Dunson has reached double figures in five consecutive games. She led UTSA with 14 points, playing all 40 minutes, at Northwester State last Saturday and notched 10 points at Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 6. In the last five games, she is averaging 13.5 points per game. She tied her career high with 18 points against Samford on Dec. 30, then added 16 points against Quinnipiac to be named all-Classic at the UTSA New Year’s Classic. The senior transfer ranks second on the team with 9.7 points per game and leads the team in three-pointers made (2.00) and free throw percentage (.786). 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.
ONE IS A LONELY NUMBER
Senior Kim Reed leads the Roadrunners with 36 assists. With 216 career assists, Reed is 10th on the all-time career assist chart at UTSA, needing just one more to move into ninth place past Starlite Williams, a standout from 1983-87. UTSA ranks third in the Southland Conference in assists per game as a team. The Roadrunners are averaging 14.4 assists per game in 2004-2005, compared to 12.7 during the 2003-2004 season.
MIGHTY MINGEE
Junior Lacy Mingee ranks fourth on the team with 4.5 rebounds per game and leads the team with 13 blocked shots. She is scoring 6.7 points per game, despite playing just 14 minutes per game, and ranks second on the team with 12.5 points per game in conference play. Mingee reached double figures twice last weekend, notching 11 points and seven rebounds at Louisiana-Monroe and a season high 14 points off the bench at NSU. Mingee has also scored 452 career points and needs just 62 to climb to 25th on the UTSA career scoring chart past Julie Rampley (513 pts, 2000-2002). She needs 54 rebounds to pass Soonja Robinson (299 rbs, 1995-98) into 22nd all-time.
WHAT A GAME
Senior Holly Ziegler exploed for a career high 21 points against Quinnipiac on Dec. 31. Ziegler, who entered the game not having seen action against Samford the day before and averaging less than two points per game, finished the day 7-of-9 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line. She was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field at Louisiana-Monroe, making her 10-for-12 (.833) in the last three games.
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.
START ME UP
Sophomore Stephanie Swords was in the starting lineup for the first time in her career during the UTSA New Year’s Classic against Samford and Quinnipiac. Swords started in place of the injured Kim Reed and responded with a career high four rebounds against Samford on Dec. 30.
SHOOTING STARS
Coming into the Quinnipiac contest last weekend, the Roadrunners were shooting just 36 percent from the floor as a team, but UTSA exploded for a season-high 50 percent showing (25-of-50), including 59 percent (11-of-19) in the second half of the 73-55 win. The Roadrunners then topped that effort with a season high 56 percent shooting day at Lousiana-Monroe, including shooting 63 percent in the second half. As a team, UTSA is now shooting 37 percent for the year.
TOUGH DEFENSE
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. This season, the trend has continued as the Roadrunners have only allowed 58.8 points per game. Opponents have shot just 36 percent from the field so far in 2004-2005. In winning 75-59 against Tennessee-Martin, the Roadrunners allowed the Skyhawks to shoot just 27 percent from the field, while UTSA held Quinnipiac to only 28 percent on Dec. 31. Earlier this season, the Roadrunners allowed Texas Southern to shoot just 19 percent for the game on Dec. 12. Only two opponents have managed to shoot 45 percent or better against the Roadrunners.
THE MAGIC NUMBER
The Roadrunners are 6-1 when holding opponents to 60 points or less. In the last two seasons, UTSA is now 19-6 when limiting foes to 60 points or less.
ONLY FIVE AWAY
UTSA head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair is just five wins shy of becoming the all-time winningest coach in school history. At 71-57, Blair trails only Bill MacLeay (1984-89, 75-60) on the all-time list of UTSA coaches.
UTSA Coaching History
1. Bill McLeay (1985-89) 75-69
2. Rae Rippetoe-Blair (2000-) 71-57
3. Ginny DeHaven (1981-84) 54-27
4. Mary Ann McLaughlin (1989-94) 50-87
5. Terry Gray (1996-99) 38-43
6. Jeff Spivey (1994-96) 15-37
7. Jeff Dow (1999-2000) 7-20
AGAINST THE CAJUN STATE...AGAIN
UTSA is 62-68 all-time against teams from Louisiana, including going 0-2 so far this year.
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.
NEXT UP
The Roadrunners take some time off before returning to action on Thursday Jan. 20 at McNeese State. Tip-off at the Lake Charles Civic Center is set for 5:15 p.m.