Southland Conference Home Opener
UTSA Roadrunners (8-5, 0-0 SLC) vs. Lamar Lady Cardinals (7-6, 0-0 SLC)
Saturday, Jan. 12 ? 2 p.m.
Convocation Center (4,080)
SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA returns to action after 10-day layoff, as it opens Southland Conference play at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12 against Lamar at the Convocation Center.
On the Web: Fans can listen to the game (Rowdy Zone subscription) at goUTSA.com. Providing play-by-play announcing is Stu Paul. Live stats will be provided by UTSA.
Series meeting: This will be the 25th meeting between UTSA and Lamar. The Roadrunners lead the all-time series, 13-11, and are 6-5 at home against the Lady Cardinals. UTSA has won seven of the last eight meetings. Last season, Lamar handed the Roadrunners a 60-46 loss in Beaumont.
Scouting Lamar: Lamar was selected to finish first in the SLC Preseason coaches poll and second in the SIDs poll this year. The Lady Cardinals are 7-6 overall and sporting a 1-5 mark in road contests. LU is coming off a overtime loss (82-75) against Houston on Jan. 2. Tamara Abalde is averaging a team-best 15.8 points per game, while Nikki Williams and Brittney Williams rank second and third in scoring at 12.6 and 12.1 points per contest, respectively. Aida Bakhos tops the squad at 7.5 rebounds a contest.
Last time out: SMU handed UTSA its first home loss of the season with a 74-72 win on Jan. 2 at the Convocation Center. Senior guard Terrie Davis led all scorers with 17 points. The Houston native also tied her career-high with five 3-pointers. Senior forward Amanda Foster recorded 14 points for the Roadrunners, while freshman guard Jordan Stark added 10. Freshman guard Whitney York dished out a career-best six assists.
Runners rout Weber State: UTSA shot a season-high 52.1 percent from the floor and closed out the Wells Fargo UTSA New Year’s Classic with a 73-45 victory against Weber State on Dec. 30. Freshman Whitney York, who was named to the all tournament team, led three Roadrunners in double figures with a game-high 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field. Freshman Jordan Stark, who also earned all-classic honors, added 12 points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, while junior Monica Gibbs chipped in with 10 points and dished out a game-high four assists.
UTSA edges Miami (Ohio) in double-overtime: Freshman guard Jordan Stark and junior forward Onika Anderson had career highs of 25 and 23 points, respectively, to lead UTSA to a thrilling 90-89 double-overtime victory against Miami (Ohio) in the second game of the Wells Fargo UTSA New Year’s Classic on Dec. 29 at the Convocation Center.
Runners in the SLC: Freshman Whitney York’s 11.6 points per outing leads the team and stands 12th in the conference. She also is third in the league in field goal percentage (49.5 percent). Senior Terrie Davis ranks third on the team and is 14th in the SLC at 10.9 points per game. Junior Monica Gibbs is second in the league at 8.4 rebounds per contest and she is dishing out a league-best 5.2 assists per game. Gibbs also ranks fourth in the conference in steals (2.69 spg).
Most non-conference wins: The eight non-conference wins that UTSA posted this season was the most by Head Coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair.
Letting it rain: Senior guard Terrie Davis matched her career-high with five 3-pointers against SMU on Jan. 2. The Houston native was 5-of-10 from downtown and now has a total of a UTSA record136 career treys.
Davis set new mark: Senior Terrie Davis broke UTSA’s all-time 3-point record on her first attempt at Tulsa on Dec. 1. The Houston native has made a school-record 136 treys. Davis connected on three 3-pointers in the win against Belmont on Nov. 11.
Dishing out dimes: UTSA recorded a season-high 19 assists against SMU on Jan. 2. Junior Monica Gibbs and freshman guard Whitney York combined for 13 of the 19 dimes.
Gibbs collects preseason honors: Junior Monica Gibbs was named to the 2007-08 SLC Preseason First Team. Gibbs, who was a second-team All-SLC pick a year ago, led the conference with 13 double-doubles in 29 games in 2006-07. The Stillwater, Okla., native led the team in rebounding (8.1) and assists (4.7) and her 12.9 points per game ranked second on the squad last season. She currently ranks fourth on UTSA’s all-time assists chart with 344 and sits 10th with 53 career blocks.
Stark and York collect all-classic honors: Freshmen Jordan Stark and Whitney York helped UTSA post a perfect 2-0 mark at the Wells Fargo/UTSA New Year’s Classic. Stark poured in a career-high 25 points in the double-overtime win over Miami (Ohio). Meanwhile, York scored a game-high 19 points in the victory against Weber State on Sunday.
Near perfection: Freshman Whitney York was a near perfect from the field shooting 8-of-9. She started off the game making her first six shot attempts en route to helping the UTSA defeat Weber State on Dec. 30.
York collects all-tournament honors: Freshman Whitney York continues to have an impressive rookie campaign for the Roadrunners. The Bryan native averaged 15.5 points per game, while shooting 46.2 percent from the field en route to picking up Tulane Doubletree All-Classic honors on Dec. 21. She also was tabbed Southland Conference Player of the Week in consecutive weeks (Nov. 13 and Nov. 20), making her the first Roadrunners in school history.
York earns consecutive SLC honors: Freshman Whitney York became the first Roadrunner in school history to earn Southland Conference Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks (Nov. 13 and Nov. 20). York posted a career-high 22 points and tallied five steals in the 68-60 win against Wichita State on Nov. 18. The Bryan native helped UTSA to a pair of wins against Huston-Tillotson (89-50) on Nov. 9 and Belmont (77-65) on Nov. 11. In her Roadrunners debut, she tallied 12 points and was 10-of-10 from the free throw line. York then chipped in with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor, while grabbing a career-best eight boards and dishing out four assists in the 12-point victory against Belmont.
No Stark about it: Freshman Jordan Stark posted a career-high 25 points, including 20 in the second half and overtime against Miami (Ohio). The Weatherford, Okla., native was lights out from downtown, making a career-best five 3-pointers. She also added three more against Weber State.
Stark’s steals away: Freshman Jordan Stark averaged 4.0 steals per 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 her career-best with four the following day.
Stark’s doubling up: Freshman Jordan Stark recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in the win at Missouri State on Nov. 29. She then registered her second double-double one game later with 15 points and 12 boards against Tulsa on Dec. 1.
Stark collects SLC POW honors: Freshman Jordan Stark, who averaged a double-double against Missouri State and Tulsa, collected Southland Conference Player of the Week honors on Dec. 3. The Weatherford, Okla., native averaged 14.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game en route to collecting the weekly honor. She joins freshman two-time honoree Whitney York as UTSA has collected three weekly awards this season.
Onika’s coming out party: Junior Onika Anderson made her home debut and did not disappoint the home crowd with her first career double-double of 23 points and 14 rebounds against Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 29. Both totals were a career-best.
Home sweet home: After a posting a 1-4 road record and shooting 25 percent, UTSA was glad to be back in the Convocation Center, as it shot 51.4 percent at the Wells Fargo UTSA New Year’s Classic, including a season-high 52.1% in the win against Weber State on Dec. 30.
Birdcage dominance: UTSA has proven time after time that home court advantage can result in a successful season. The Roadrunners are an impressive 223-130 (.631) at the Convocation Center all-time, including 7-1 this season.
Postseason experience: UTSA’s 2007-08 schedule has them pinned up against five teams that advanced to postseason play last season, including three (Belmont, Robert Morris and UT Arlington) that went to the NCAA Tournament. The Roadrunners will face Vitginia Tech, who last year participated in the WNIT and a match up against Tulane (WNIT participant). The Roadrunners will play their final postseason participant, UT Arlington, in conference action.
Preseason rankings: UTSA, which finished 14-16 overall and 9-7 in SLC play last season, was picked first and fourth, respectively, in this year’s Southland Conference Preseason Coaches and SIDs polls. The Roadrunners collected five first-places votes in the coaches rankings for a total of 52 points. In the SIDs poll, UTSA garnered 42 points.
Head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair: In her eighth season as head coach, Rae Rippetoe-Blair has established herself as the winningest and longest-tenured head coach in school history. Since her hiring in 2000, the Roadrunners have made the Southland Conference Tournament seven consecutive seasons, including two trips to the conference finals (2003 and 2006). She currently owns 121 wins at UTSA and her .565 winning percentage is second-best in school history. The Roadrunners have the second-most SLC wins (85) and second-best winning percentage (.685) since 2001. A two-time SLC Coach of the Year, Rippetoe-Blair has posted an overall mark of 228-139 in 11-plus years as a head coach.
Next on tap: UTSA hits the road for a pair of SLC games next weekend at Central Arkansas on Jan. 17 and Northwestern State on Jan. 19.
