UTSA Roadrunners (10-6, 2-1 SLC) vs. UT Arlington Mavericks (9-6, 4-0 SLC)
Jan. 24, 2008 ? 7 p.m. ? Convocation Center (4,080)
SAN ANTONIO - UTSA looks for its third win in a row on Thursday when it host Defending SLC Champion UT Arlington at 7 p.m. in 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 at goUTSA.com.
Series meeting: This will be the 42nd all-timemeeting between UTSA and UT Arlington. The Mavericks lead the series, 23-18. UTA has won three in a row against UTSA, including a 70-52 win in the semifinal game of the SLC Tournament, last year.
Scouting UT Arlington: The Mavericks are one of four teams that are undefeated in conference play. UT Arlington is 4-0 in league play and are 9-6 overall. UTA went 2-0 last week with wins at Nicholls State (Jan. 17) and at Southeastern Louisiana (Jan 19). Maryann Abanoni is averaging a team-best 13.9 points per game, while Candice Champion ranks second on the squad scoring 10.3 points per contest.
Last time out: Junior Onika Anderson and senior Amanda Foster both posted double-doubles to pace the UTSA women’s basketball team to a 68-62 win at Northwestern State on Jan. 19. Foster led five Roadrunners in double figures with a team-high 15 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, Anderson collected her second double-double of the season with a career-high 16 boards, 11 of which came on the offensive end, and 14 points. Freshman Jordan Stark and junior Monica Gibbs chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively, and freshman Whitney York scored 10. Gibbs dished out a game-best seven assists.
UTSA steamrolls UCA: UTSA outscored Central Arkansas 42-11 in the second half and picked up its first Southland Conference win of the year with a 76-49 win on Jan. 17 at the Farris Center. Senior Terrie Davis led all scorers with 20 points on the strength of six 3-pointers. Meanwhile, junior Monica Gibbs added 16 points and dished out a game-high seven assists and senior Amanda Foster and junior Onika Anderson each hauled in 10 rebounds. The Roadrunners tallied a season-high 21 assists and forced 21 turnovers ? 18 from steals ? and capitalized with 31 points off the Sugar Bears’ miscues.
Second half blitz: Trailing Central Arkansas 38-34 at the half, UTSA exploded for a 21-3 run in the first seven minutes of the second frame. Senior guard Terrie Davis made four 3-pointers that keyed the run. The Roadrunners outscored the Sugar Bears 42-11 in that stanza.
Record-setting half: The 11 points scored by Central Arkansas in the second half were the fewest points allowed in a half for a conference game, while the four field goals made by UCA were also the fewest FG’s in a half for a conference game, both are school records.
Miscues leads to points: UTSA forced 21 Central Arkansas turnovers in the win at UCA on Jan. 17. The Roadrunners recorded a seaosn-high 18 steals, which turned into 31 points off UCA’s miscues. Leading the way were juniors Onika Anderson and Monica Gibbs, who tallied five steals apiece.
Most non-conference wins: The eight non-conference wins that UTSA posted this season was the most by head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair.
Runners in the SLC: Senior Terrie Davis leads the team in scoring and is 12th in the SLC at 12.4 points per game, while freshman Whitney York’s 11.1 points per outing rank second on team and 13th in the conference. York also is fourth in the league in field goal percentage (49.2 percent). Junior Monica Gibbs stands third in the league at 7.9 rebounds per contest, is dishing out a league-best 5.4 assists per game and ranks third in the conference in steals (2.8 spg).
Raining 3’s: Senior Terrie Davis broke UTSA’s all-time 3-point record on her first attempt at Tulsa on Dec. 1. The Houston native has been on fire from downtown connecting on 20 3-pointers over the last four games. Davis set a new school-record with a eight 3-pointers against Lamar on Jan. 12. She repeated her shooting performance with six treys at Central Arkansas on Jan. 17. The Houston sharpshooter has a total of 150 3-pointers for her career.
Gibbs doubles up: Junior guard Monica Gibbs posted her third double-double of the season with a career-high 24 points and 10 rebounds against Lamar on Jan. 12. The Stillwater, Okla., native has 18 career double-doubles, including 13 that she recorded a year ago.
Dishing out dimes: UTSA posted a season-best 21 assists in the win at Central Arkansas on Jan. 17. Junior Monica Gibbs led the way with seven dimes. Gibbs is averaging a league-best 5.4 assists per game. The Stillwater, Okla., native has dished out 363 career assists, which ranks third on UTSA’s all-time chart. She is 12 dimes shy of passing Rhonda Hoffman for second place on the list and is 43 away from tying Tammy Rogers (406).
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 third on UTSA’s all-time assists chart with 363 and sits 10th with 51 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.
Helping the cause: Freshman Jordan Stark added 12 points, all of which came via the 3-ball, in the win at Northwestern State on Jan. 19.
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 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.
Doing the dirty work: Junior Onika Anderson tallied a career-high 16 rebounds, 11 of which came on the offensive side, in the win at Northwestern State on Jan. 19. Anderson scored six of her 14 points on second chance points.
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 with 23 points and 14 rebounds against Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 29. Both totals were a career bests.
Birdcage dominance: UTSA has proven time after time that home court advantage can result in a successful season. The Roadrunners are an impressive 223-131 (.629) at the Convocation Center all-time, including 7-2 this season.
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 230-140 in 11-plus years as a head coach.
Next on tap: UTSA visits I-35 rival Texas State at 2 p.m., on Saturday, Jan. 20 in San Marcos.