Feb. 18, 2005
Contact: Matt Schabert (210) 458-4930
Roadrunners look for third straight at Nicholls State Saturday
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THIBODAUX, La. - The UTSA women's basketball team will look for its third straight win at Nicholls State on Saturday, Feb. 19. Tip is set for 2 p.m. at Stopher Gym.
UTSA Roadrunners (13-9, 7-4 SLC)
at
Nicholls State Colonels (6-17, 3-9 SLC)
Saturday, Feb. 19 • 2 p.m.
Stopher Gym • Thibodaux, La.
Audio: KSJL 810 AM/goUTSA.com
TIP-OFF
The Roadrunners continue on the Louisiana road swing this afternoon at Nicholls State...UTSA is coming off a 60-40 win at Southeastern Louisiana Thursday evening in Hammond...The Roadrunners are 7-2 in their last nine games...At 7-4 in the Southland Conference, the Roadrunners are just a half-game out of third place...Senior Nicole Dunson scored a career high 19 points and made five consecutive three pointers Thursday at SLU...Before missing her last trey attempt, Dunson had made eight in a row, setting a UTSA record for consecutive three-pointers made without a miss...The Roadrunners held the Lady Lions to 25 percent shooting for the game...The Roadrunners can even their road record to 5-5 with a win.
SERIES RECORD AGAINST THE LADY COLONELS
The Roadrunners lead the series 21-10 and have won the last seven meetings between these two SLC schools. The Roadrunners are 8-8 against Nicholls State in Thibodaux, including winning the last four here.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE LADY COLONELS
Nicholls State is 6-17 overall and 3-9 in the league but has won three of its last five games, including a 70-67 win over then-league leader Texas State. With 9.3 points per game, Jamie Octave leads the Lady Colonels, who are 5-6 at home this year. NSU ended a 32-game road losing streak with a 48-34 win at SHSU Thursday.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE LADY LIONS
Richelle Parks 18 points and nine rebounds, and Nicole Dunson scored 11 as the Roadrunners edged the Lady Colonels 58-53 on Jan. 14 in San Antonio. UTSA led 26-23 at the half and narrowly edged the Lady Colonels 32-30 in the final half for the five-point league win. Jamie Octave led NSU with 12 points.
LAST TIME OUT
UTSA 60, Southeastern Louisiana 40 (Feb. 17 at the University Center)
The Roadrunners held the Lady Lions to just 25 percent shooting and used a 14-2 run to end the first half en route to a 60-40 Southland Conference road victory. Senior Nicole Dunson drilled five straight three pointers and led UTSA with a career high 19 points, while Richelle Parks scored 11. Junior Katie Sandefur tied her career high with 11 rebounds. The Roadrunners pulled down 43 rebounds.
DOUBLE DIGIT FIGURES
Freshman Richelle Parks leads the Roadrunners with 17 games scoring in double figures this year, while Nicole Dunson have reached double figures nine times. Lyndsey Greer and Lacy Mingee have notched doubles six times this season. Dunson owns the longest consecutive streak of double figure games with six.
PUTTING UP THE NUMBERS
Freshman Richelle Parks is having one of the best debut seasons ever for the Roadrunners and scored a career high 28 points at McNeese State on Jan. 20. Parks is currently the only freshman ranked in the top 20 in the league in scoring and has reached double figures in 17 of the 22 games. She narrowly missed her fourth double-double on Jan. 14 against Nicholls State with 18 points and nine rebounds. Parks continues to lead UTSA in scoring average (13.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.0) and ranks fifth in the league on the boards. At Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 6, Parks led UTSA with 18 points. 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. 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.
D-FENCE
In keeping with tradition, the Roadrunners are again one of the best teams in the Southland Conference when it comes to defense. UTSA has allowed just one opponent to shoot better than 50 percent this season, and the Roadrunners allow conference opponents to shoot just 39 percent. On Thursday, UTSA limited SLU to only 25 percent from the field, including just 2-of-19 from beyond the arc.
NOT A BENCH WARMER
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. She is also the only Roadrunner to start every game this season. Greer, who averaged just 2.7 points last season, tied her career high with 14 points versus SLU on Jan. 29, going 3-of-3 from three-point range. She set a career high for rebounds with seven at Texas A&M on Nov. 30. She is averaging 6.1 points per game this year to rank fifth on the team and also ranks first on the team in minutes played.
KATIE IN THE CLUTCH
Junior forward Katie Sandefur, a native of Kingfisher, Okla., came up with what could be the most important shot of the year last Saturday when she hit a six-foot baseline jumper with 5.8 seconds left to beat Texas State. Sandefur hit the shot with one second left on the shot clock as well. She is having a productive season with 6.8 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game to rank second on the team. She led the team with a career high 11 rebounds Thursday at SLU. Sandefur established a season high with 15 points against Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 6. Having shot only 14 free throws all year, Sandefur reached the line 11 times against the Lady Indians. She ranks third on the team with 48 assists and has played in 80 games over her career. She has scored 498 career points, needing just 18 to place her name 25th on the career scoring chart at UTSA.
DOWNTOWN DUNSON
Senior Nicole Dunson scored a career high 19 points at SLU Thursday and hit five straight three-pointers. She led UTSA with 14 points, playing all 40 minutes, at Northwestern State on Jan. 8 and notched 10 points at Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 6. 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 8.9 points per game and leads the team in free throw percentage (.850). Dunson set a freshman 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.
EN FUEGO
In the last two games, Nicole Dunson has hit 8-of-9 (.888) from three-point land, including eight consecutive treys. That broke current assistant coach Amber Prose’s record of seven straight three-balls without a miss set in 2001.
JUST A LITTLE BETTER
After beginning the game 2-of-12 against SLU Thursday, the Roadrunners responded by hitting 22-of-39 (.564) from the field throughout the rest of the game. UTSA finished the night shooting 47 percent (24-of-51).
MOVING ON UP
Senior Kim Reed will finish her career this year as one of the all-time top point guards in UTSA history in terms of assists. With 255 career assists, Reed needs just five more to move to 7th on the all-time career chart at UTSA. Her 12 assists against Texas State tied for the second best performance in the Southland Conference this year.
DOUBLE UP
Junior Lacy Mingee recorded her first double-double since the first game of the 2003-2004 season at Lamar with 20 points and 11 rebounds. She now third on the team with 8.5 points per game but is scoring 11.5 points against SLC foes. She has scored 552 career points and has climbed to 20th on the UTSA career scoring chart. She needs 14 rebounds to pass Soonja Robinson (299 rbs, 1995-98) into 22nd all-time.
NEARLY A RECORD
Freshman Terrie Davis came off the bench to score a career high 19 points against Sam Houston on Feb. 3. In the game, Davis was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line, coming up just one short of the school record 11-of-11 held by Starlite Williams and Nikki Hendrix. Davis currently ranks second on the team with 65 assists.
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.
DEFENDING THE CONVO
In the last two seasons, the Roadrunners are 17-8 at home, including going 8-3 this year. Last season the Roadrunners were 9-5 and won their last four games in the Convocation Center. This season, the Roadrunners have won six of their last seven games at home.
OFF THE BENCH, IN THE GAME
In Thursday’s 60-40 win at Southeastern Louisiana, the Roadrunner bench outscored the starters 37-23 and had 25 rebounds. In the last five games, the bench has averaged 28.5 points per game.
OLIVEIRA NETS CAREER HIGH
Sophomore Ana Oliveira scored a career high 12 points in the 71-69 win over Texas State on Feb. 12. The Portuguese native nailed a perfect eight-of-eight from the free throw line, also a career high for free throw attempts and makes. Since earning a spot in the starting lineup on Jan. 29 against Southeastern Louisiana, she has averaged 6.0 points per game.
DEALING AND DISHING
Senior Kim Reed came within one assist of tying the single-game record for assists with 12 against Texas State on Feb. 12. She had seven handouts in the first half and dished out five more in the final half. The record of 13 is held by Shelley Seale in 1983.
HITTING THE BOARDS
The Roadrunners have out-rebounded 13 of their opponents this season and rank third in the Southland Conference in rebounds. UTSA grabs 39.7 caroms per game and allows opponents 37.9 for a +1.8 rebounding margin.
DON’T LET THEM SCORE AND YOU’LL WIN
The Roadrunners are now 10-2 when holding opponents to 60 points or less this year. In the last two seasons, UTSA is now 23-7 when limiting foes to 60 points or less, and the Roadrunners are 6-0 when limiting opponents to 50 points or less.
NUMBER ONE
UTSA head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair is now all-time winningest women’s coach at UTSA .
UTSA Coaching History
1. Rae Rippetoe-Blair (2000-) 78-59
2. Bill McLeay (1985-89) 75-69
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
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. Currently, UTSA is in fifth place.
NEXT UP
The Roadrunners return home to battle Lamar on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m.