Saturday, Feb. 26, 2005
Contact: Matt Schabert (210) 458-4930
Mingee's heroics leads Roadrunners past Texas-Arlington, 48-46
Box Score
SAN ANTONIO - Lacy Mingee hit a 15-foot jumper from the left side of the free throw line with 0.7 seconds left Saturday to lift her University of Texas at San Antonio women's basketball team to a 48-46 win over Southland Conference leader Texas-Arlington before 1,736 Homecoming fans at the Convocation Center.
Mingee, who led the Roadrunners with 13 points and scored six points in the final two minutes, knocked down the game-winning basket after UTA's Tamesha Graves tied the game at 46 with 12 seconds left with a three-pointer. The junior fromĀ Piedmont, Okla., found herself unguarded just inside the arc, got a pass, and calmly drilled the 15-footer.
The Roadrunners, who were fifth place in the league entering the day, improved to 15-10 and 9-5 in the Southland Conference but did not gain any ground in the SLC standings as Northwestern State hung on for a one-point victory over Stephen F. Austin, UTSA's next opponent on Tuesday. The Mavericks fell to 16-9 and 11-3 in the league, dropping into a tie with Louisiana-Monroe for the top spot in the conference.
In a contest that featured eight ties, the Roadrunners didn't take their first lead until 5:03 left in the game when freshman Richelle Parks connected on a layup for a 37-36 UTSA advantage. Maverick guard Terra Wallace put her team back on top with a jumper at the 4:01 mark for a 39-37 UTA lead. But a three-point play by Parks at the 3:35 mark left UTSA with a 41-39 lead it never relinquished.
Senior Nicole Dunson knocked down her second trey of the game to give the Roadrunners a 44-41 lead with 2:49 left. Mingee then scored a layup with 1:56 left for a 46-43 UTSA lead before Graves' game-tying three-pointer with 12 seconds left.
In the opening half, the Roadrunners battled back from a seven-point deficit (16-9) with 10:49 left. UTSA went on a 7-0 run and tied the game at 16 with 6:27 left after Mingee's three-point play. Ultimately, UTSA trailed 22-19 at the break.
Parks scored 12 for the Roadrunners, reaching double figures for the 20th game this year, while Dunson, who was honored for senior day along with Lyndsey Greer, Kim Reed and Holly Ziegler, netted 10. The Roadrunners shot 43 percent (17-of-40) and limited the Mavericks to just 37 percent (19-of-51). UTSA also went to the charity stripe 19 times, compared to just four for UTA. UTSA also came up with 14 steals.
The Roadrunners will be back in the Convocation Center Tuesday for the regular season home finale against Stephen F. Austin at 6 p.m.