SAN ANTONIO - The UTSA women’s basketball team picked up its first Southland Conference win Thursday night against Central Arkansas and look to continue its winning ways on Saturday when it hosts SLC foe Northwestern State.
Series meeting: Northwestern State leads the all-time series, 25-7, against UTSA. The Roadrunners captured a rare sweep against the Lady Demons a year ago. The Runners took the first meeting, 73-65, at home on Jan. 26. In March, UTSA picked up its fourth win at Prather Coliseum with a 69-58 victory. The 2002-03 season marked the last time the Roadrunners completed a season sweep.
About Northwestern State: The Lady Demons visit the Alamo City with a 4-12 overall mark and a 0-3 record in league play. Northwestern State has dropped its last eight games, including three in conference play. The Lady Demons fell at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 67-61, on Thursday. Senior Chassidy Jones’ 19.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game tops the team, while junior Tena Matthews ranks second with 12.1 points per contest.
Last time out: Freshman Courtney Laing and junior Terrie Davis recorded their first career double-doubles and led UTSA to a 66-59 victory against Central Arkansas on Thursday night at the Convocation Center. Laing, who was 7-of-14 from the field, tied her career high with 15 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes of action. Davis played all 40 minutes and added 13 points and a career-best 10 boards. Freshman Lynsey Freeman also played the entire contest and dished out a career-high seven assists.
Rebounding machine: Senior Vivian Ewalefo set a career-high with 19 rebounds in the loss at Lamar. The Las Vegas, Nev., native collected 11 boards in the first half alone. Her 8.6 rebounds per game this season ranks second in the Southland Conference.
Climbing the charts: Junior Terrie Davis is tied for fourth on UTSA’s chart with 87 career 3-pointers with former Roadrunner Tammy Rogers. The Houston, Texas, sharpshooter is on pace to move into second place by end of the season and surpass last season’s total of 39 trifectas.
Double digits: In the win against Central Arkansas, UTSA had four players score in double figures. Freshman Courtney Laing led the way with 15 points, while senior Vivian Ewalefo and junior Terrie Davis added 13 points apiece. Sophomore Tia Bogan chipped in with 10 points.
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) in the Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic. The Bishop Gorman High School product set a career-best with five 3-pointers in the wins against Memphis and Kent State.
Double fever: Sophomore Monica Gibbs added two more double-doubles during the Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic 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.
Freebies: UTSA tops the Southland Conference with a 75% free throw percentage and is 22nd 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.
