SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA host its final non-conference game against SMU at 7 p.m. on Jan. 2 at the Convocation Center.
On the Web: Fans can listen to the game (Rowdy Zonesubscription) at goutsa.com. Providing play-by-play announcing isStu Paul. Live stats will be provided by UTSA.
Series meeting: This will be the ninth meeting between UTSA andSMU. The Mustangs lead the all-time series, 6-2 and have won the lastthree meeting, including a 78-49 win last season in Dallas.
Scouting SMU: SMU visits the Alamo city with a 9-3 overallrecord, however they have lost two of its last three contests. TheMustangs are coming off a five-point defeat (75-70) at the hands ofTexas Tech on Dec. 29 in Lubbock. SMU is led by Janielle Dodds’ 14.1points and 7.4 rebounds per game, while Delisha Wills ranks second onthe team with 13.6 points per contest. Dodds tops the squad with a49.1 field goal percentage.
Last time out: UTSA shot a season-high 52.1 percent from thefloor and closed out the Wells Fargo New Year’s Classic with a 73-45victory against Weber State on Dec. 30. Freshman Whitney York, who wasnamed to the all tournament team, led three Roadrunners in doublefigures with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field.Freshman Jordan Stark, who also earned all-classic honors, added 12points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, while junior MonicaGibbs chipped in with 10 points and dished out a game-high fourassists. Senior Terrie Davis tied Gibbs with four dimes.
Stark and York collect all-classic honors: Freshmen Jordan Starkand Whitney York helped UTSA post a perfect 2-0 mark at the WellsFargo/UTSA New Year’s Classic. Stark poured in a career-high 25 pointsin the double-overtime win over Miami (Ohio). Meanwhile, York scored agame-high 19 points in the victory against Weber State on Sunday.
UTSA edges Miami (Ohio) in double-overtime: Freshman guardJordan Stark and junior forward Onika Anderson had career highs of 25and 23 points, respectively, to lead UTSA to a thrilling 90-89double-overtime victory against Miami (Ohio) in the second game of theWells Fargo UTSA New Year’s Classic on Dec. 29 at the ConvocationCenter.
No Stark about it: Freshman Jordan Stark posted a career-high 25points, including 20 points in the second half and overtime. TheWeatherford, Okla. native was light outs from downtown making acareer-best five 3-pointers. She also added three more against WeberState to bring her weekend total to eight 3-pointers.
Near perfection: Freshman Whitney York was a near perfect fromthe field shooting 8-of-9. She started off the game making her firstsix shot attempts en route to helping the UTSA defeat Weber State.
RPI’s: UTSA is top ranked team of the Southland Conference in the RPI rankings at 113th.
Home sweet home: After a posting a 1-4 road record and shooting25 percent, UTSA was glad to be back in the Convocation Center, as theyshot 51.4 percent over the weekend, including a season-high 52.1% inthe win against Weber State.
Birdcage dominance: UTSA has proven time after time that homecourt advantage can result in a successful season. The Roadrunners arean impressive 223-129 (.633) at the Convocation Center all-time,including 7-0 this season.
Onika’s coming out party: Junior Onika Anderson made her homedebut and did not disappoint the home crowd with her first careerdouble-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds, both totals were acareer-best.
York collects all-tournament honors: Freshman Whitney Yorkcontinues to have an impressive rookie campaign for the Roadrunners.The Bryan native averaged 15.5 points per game, while shooting 46.2percent from the field en route to picking up Tulane DoubletreeAll-Classic honors on Dec. 21. She also was tabbed Southland ConferencePlayer of the Week in consecutive weeks (Nov. 9 and Nov. 18), makingher the first Roadrunners in school history.
Stark’s steals away: Freshman Jordan Stark averaged 4.0 stealsper game during the Tulane Doubletree Classic. The Weatherford, Okla.,native set a career-high with four steals against Virginia Tech on Dec.20. She then repeated her performance at Tulane matching hercareer-best with four the following day.
Postseason experience: UTSA’s 2007-08 schedule has them pinnedup against five teams that advanced to postseason play last season,including three teams (Belmont, Robert Morris and UT Arlington) thatwent to the NCAA Tournament. The Roadrunners will face VT, who lastyear participated in the WNIT, on Thursday night and a possible matchup against either Tulane (WNIT participant) or Robert Morris (NCAAparticipant). The Roadrunners will play their final postseasonparticipant, UT Arlington, in conference action.
Davis set new mark: Senior Terrie Davis broke UTSA’s all-time3-point record on her first attempt at Tulsa on Dec. 1. The Houstonnative has made a school-record 129 treys. Davis connected on three3-pointers in the win against Belmont on Nov. 11.
Runners in the SLC: Freshman Whitney York’s 12.1 points perouting leads the team and stands eighth in the conference. York also isfourth in field goal percentage at 51 percent. Senior Terrie Davisranks third on the team and is 18th in the league at 10.4 points pergame. Junior Monica Gibbs is averaging a league-best 8.4 rebounds percontest, while dishing out a conference-high 5.0 assists per game. Gibbsalso ranks third in the conference in steals (2.83 spg).
Stark collects SLC POW honors: Freshman Jordan Stark, whoaveraged a double-double against Missouri State and Tulsa, collectedSouthland Conference Player of the Week honors on Dec. 3. TheWeatherford, Okla., native averaged 14.5 points and 12.5 rebounds pergame en route to collecting the weekly honor. She joins freshmantwo-time honoree Whitney York as UTSA has collected three weekly awardsthis season.
Stark’s doubling up: Freshman Jordan Stark recorded her firstcareer double-double with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds inthe win at Missouri State on Nov. 29. She then registered her secondstraight double-double with 15 points and 12 boards against Tulsa onDec. 1.
York earns consecutive SLC honors: Freshman Whitney York becamethe first Roadrunner in school history to earn Southland ConferencePlayer of the Week honors in consecutive weeks. York posted acareer-high 22 points and tallied five steals in the 68-60 win againstWichita State on Nov. 18. The Bryan native helped UTSA to a pair ofwins against Huston-Tillotson (89-50) on Nov. 9 and Belmont (77-65) onNov. 11. In her Roadrunners debut, she tallied 12 points and was10-of-10 from the free throw line. York then chipped in with 16 pointson 6-of-11 shooting from the floor, while grabbing a career-best eightboards and dishing out four assists in the 12-point victory againstBelmont.
Preseason rankings: UTSA, which finished 14-16 overall and 9-7in SLC play last season, was picked first and fourth, respectively, inthis year’s Southland Conference Preseason Coaches and SIDs polls. TheRoadrunners collected five first-places votes in the coaches rankingsfor a total of 52 points. In the SIDs poll, UTSA garnered 42 points.
Gibbs collects preseason honors: Junior Monica Gibbs was namedto the 2007-08 SLC Preseason First Team. Gibbs, who was a second-teamAll-SLC pick a year ago, led the conference with 13 double-doubles in29 games in 2006-07. The Stillwater, Okla., native led the team inrebounding (8.1) and assists (4.7) and her 12.9 points per game rankedsecond on the squad last season. She currently ranks fourth on UTSA’sall-time assists chart with 337 and sits 10th with 53 career blocks.
Head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair: In her eighth season as headcoach of the UTSA women’s basketball team, Rae Rippetoe-Blair hasestablished herself as the winningest and longest-tenured head coach inschool history. Since her hiring in 2000, the Roadrunners have made theSouthland Conference Tournament seven consecutive seasons, includingtwo trips to the conference finals (2003 and 2006). She currently owns121 wins at UTSA and her .565 winning percentage is second-best inschool history. The Roadrunners have the second-most SLC wins (85) andsecond-best winning percentage (.685) since 2001. A two-time SLC Coachof the Year, Rippetoe-Blair has posted an overall mark of 228-138 in 11plus years as a head coach.
Next on tap: UTSA opens Southland Conference play against Lamar on Jan. 12 at the Convocation Center. Tip-off is schedule for 7 p.m.
