SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA women’s basketball team looks to rebound from last week's 60-46 Southland Conference-opening loss at Lamar on Thursday, Jan. 11, against new Southland Conference member Central Arkansas. The game can be heard and seen on goUTSA.com. Stu Paul will bring the action from courtside.
Series meeting: First meeting between the two teams.
About Central Arkansas: The Sugar Bears made their Southland Conference debut last week at home against Texas-Arlington (Jan. 4) and Texas State (Jan. 6). UCA opened SLC play with a 74-43 loss to UTA, followed by a 90-63 defeat against the Bobcats two days later. Central Arkansas is led by the league’s top scorer Caronica Randle, who is averaging 18.7 points per game. Randle’s 6.7 rebounds per game ranks first on the team, while Lauren Williams stands second with a 8.4 ppg.
Last time out: UTSA opened Southland Conference action in Beaumont with a 60-46 loss against Lamar Lady Cardinals on Jan. 6 in Beaumont. The Roadrunners committed 18 turnovers, 10 which came in the first half. UTSA struggle from the field connecting on 19 out of 61 field goals (31 percent). Junior Terrie Davis led the team with 13 points all coming in the second half, while senior Vivian Ewalefo hauled in a career-high 19 rebounds. Sophomore Tia Bogan added 12 points.
Rebounding machine: Senior Vivian Ewalefo set a career-high with 19 rebounds in the loss at Lamar. The as Vegas, Nev., native collected 11 boards in the first half alone. Her 8.8 rebounds per game ranks second in the Southland Conference.
Climbing the charts: Junior Terrie Davis sits fifth on the UTSA’s chart with 84 career 3-pointers. She surpassed Julie Rampley on Dec. 29 against Memphis and is three treys shy of moving into fourth on the charts (Tammy Roger). The Houston, Texas, sharpshooter is on pace of moving into second place by end of the season and passing her last season’s total of 39 trifectas.
Runners hold off late charge: UTSA held off a late Kent State rally and three Roadrunners collected double-doubles in a 69-62 victory in the final game of the 2006 Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic. Sophomore Tia Bogan led the way with a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds and recorded the first double-double of her career. Senior Vivian Ewalefo scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds, while sophomore Monica Gibbs recorded her fourth double-double of the year with 13 points and a career-high 12 assists. Freshman Lynsey Freeman tied her career-high with five 3-pointers and followed Friday’s career effort with 15 points. Both she and Ewalefo were named to the All-Classic Team.
All-Classic performance: Senior Vivian Ewalefo and freshman Lynsey Freeman were named to the Wells Fargo New Year’s All-Classic Team. Ewalefo tied her career-high with 25 points, while Freeman set career-best with 17 points and five 3-pointers against Memphis. Against Kent State, Freeman tied her career-high with five trifectas, while Ewalefo posted a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Freeing Freeman: Freshman Lynsey Freeman connected on 10-of-20 3-pointers (50 percent). The Bishop Gorman High School product set a career-best with five 3-pointers in the wins against Memphis and Kent State at the Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic.
Double fever: Sophomore Monica Gibbs added two more double-doubles, to bring her season total to four. The Stillwater, Okla., native posted her first one against Eastern Washington with 20 points and 14 rebounds. At UALR, Gibbs had her second double-double of the year with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Gibbs’ third and fourth double-doubles came during the Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic.
Freebies: UTSA tops the Southland Conference with a 75% free throw percentage and is 22th in the nation. The Roadrunners are on pace to break the school record of 71.5% set during the 1989-90 season.
Reaching a milestone: Head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair added another milestone to her coaching career, as she recorded her 100th UTSA victory on Nov. 24 against EWU.
UTSA inks four for the 2007-08 season: UTSA coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair announced the signing of Amber Gregg (Austin, Texas/McNeil HS), Cierra Martin (Pflugerville, Texas/Pflugerville HS), Magdalena Pawlaczyk (Wroclaw, Poland/Casper College) and Jordan Stark (Weatherford, Okla./Weatherford HS) to National Letters of Intent for the 2007-08 season.
UTSA picked third: UTSA was tabbed to finish in third place of both the Southland Conference coaches and SID polls in the West Division behind Texas-Arlington and Stephen F. Austin. The Roadrunners picked up two first-place votes in both polls.
Preseason honors: Senior Vivian Ewalefo received preseason Southland Conference first-team honors. Last season, Ewalefo led the UTSA in scoring (12.2) and rebounding (7.6) en route to garnering the 2005-06 SLC Newcomer of the Year and first-team all-conference accolades.
