UTSA Roadrunners (14-6, 6-1 SLC) vs. Stephen F. Austin (7-13, 4-4 SLC)
Feb. 9, 2008 ? 2 p.m. ? Convocation Center (4,080) ? TWC channel 50
SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA battles Southland Conference foe Stephen F. Austin at 2 p.m., on Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Convocation Center. The game will be televised on Time Warner Cable channel 50.
On the Web: Fans can listen to the game (Rowdy Zone subscription) at goUTSA.com. Providing play-by-play announcing will be Stu Paul. Live stats will be provided by UTSA (goUTSA.com).
On TV: UTSA is schedule to play in three TV games this season. Jason Minnix and Kevin Brock will call the action from courtside. The Roadrunners also are scheduled to appear on the tube on Feb. 9 against Stephen F. Austin and at UT Arlington on Feb. 21.
Series meeting: This will be the 36th all-time meeting between UTSA and Stephen F. Austin. The Ladyjacks lead the series, 29-6, but the Roadrunners have won two meeting last season.
Scouting Stephen F. Austin: The Ladyjacks are coming off an 68-57 win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 6 in Nacogdoches . SFA is 7-13 overall and 4-4 in conference play. The Ladyjacks have split their last four games. Stephen F. Austin is led by Nikki Carr with 13.2 points 6.8 rebounds per game, while Whitney Cormier ranks second on the team at 10.8 points per contest.
Last time out: UTSA won its sixth game in row and sent Sam Houston State to its 15th consecutive defeat with a 72-48 victory on Thursday night at Johnson Coliseum. Junior Onika Anderson posted her third consecutive double-double with a team-high 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Roadrunners. Meanwhile, junior Monica Gibbs just missed a triple-double with 11 points, a game-best nine assists and eight boards. Junior Ryba Pawlaczyk hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds and senior Terrie Davis added 11 points.
Anderson dominates Islanders: Junior Onika Anderson posted her second consecutive double-double with a game highs of 24 points and 16 rebounds to pace UTSA to a 65-56 win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 2 at the Convocation Center. Freshman Jordan Stark added 10 points off the bench, while forward Amanda Foster and junior Monica Gibbs chipped in with nine points apiece for the Roadrunners. Gibbs also dished out a game-high six assists
Anderson, Davis too much for Bobcats: Senior guard Terrie Davis and junior forward Onika Anderson combined for 43 points and led UTSA to an 81-68 SLC road victory at I-35 rival Texas State on Jan. 26 at Strahan Coliseum. Davis led four Roadrunners who scored in double figures with a team-high 23 points on the strength of seven 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Anderson added 20 points and also grabbed a school-record-tying 19 rebounds. Senior forward Amanda Foster and freshman guard Whitney York chipped in with 14 and 13 points, respectively, and junior guard Monica Gibbs dished out a game-high seven assists.
Runners knock out defending SLC champions UTA: UTSA collected its third conference win of the season with a 76-53 win against defending Southland Conference Champion UT Arlington on Jan. 24 at the Convocation Center. Freshman guard Jordan Stark, who made her fifth start of the season, netted a game-high 21 points and connected on four 3-pointers, while junior Monica Gibbs came off the bench to score 18 points and also dished out a game-best five assists. Freshman Whitney York added 10 points and junior Onika Anderson pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
Taking down SLC contenders: UTSA took down a pair of SLC contenders in defending league champion UT Arlington, 76-53, on Jan. 24 and I-35 rival Texas State, 81-68, two days later. Both team entered their respective contest undefeated in SLC play, but the Roadrunners dealt each their first conference loss.
Glass presence: UTSA outrebounded Texas State, 44-35, while holding an 18-12 edge on the offensive side. Junior Onika Anderson led the Roadrunners with a school-record-tying 19 rebounds, including nine offensive boards.
Flat out dominance: Since dropping its Southland Conference opener to Lamar, 75-74, on Jan. 12 in San Antonio, the Roadrunners have beaten up the opposition on both sides of the ball. UTSA is averaging 73.0 points per game, while holding its opponents to 56.0 points per contest (+17.0 scoring margin).
Record-setting half: The 11 points scored by Central Arkansas on Jan. 17 in the second half were the fewest points allowed in a stanza for a conference game, while the four field goals made by UCA were also the fewest FGs in a frame for a league game. Both marks are school records.
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 12.0 points per game, while freshman Whitney York’s 10.8 points per outing ranks 14th in the conference. York also is fifth in the league in field goal percentage (47.9 percent). Junior Monica Gibbs is tied for fourth in the league at 7.6 rebounds per contest, is dishing out a league-best 5.7 assists per game and ranks fourth in the conference in steals (2.3 spg).
Anderson cleans it up: Junior Onika Anderson recorded her second consecutive double-double in the win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 2. Anderson scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in that contest.
Anderson collects POW: Junior forward Onika Anderson collected her first career Southland Conference Player of the Week award, the league office announced Jan. 28. Anderson averaged 14.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game, as the Roadrunners handed defending league champion UT Arlington a 76-53 defeat Jan. 24 and I-35 rival Texas State an 81-68 setback two days later. The Pine Bluff, Ark., native scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds in the win against the Mavericks and followed that performance with 20 points and a conference school-record-tying 19 rebounds against the Bobcats for her third double-double of the year.
Wiping down the glass: Junior Onika Anderson dominated the glass at Texas State on Jan. 26. The Pine Bluff, Ark., native hauled in a conference school-record-tying 19 rebounds against the Bobcats. Over the last five games, she is averaging 13.8 rebounds per game. Her 19 rebounding effort is the third-best performance in a single game school history.
Doing the dirty work: Junior Onika Anderson tallied 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 were 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.
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 set a new school-record with a eight 3-pointers against Lamar on Jan. 12. She has a total of 165 3-pointers for her career. Davis stands fourth in the SLC in 3-point field goal percentage at 39.4 percent and is averaging a league-best 2.60 3-pointers per game.
Davis shoots down the Bobcats: Senior Terrie Davis scored 23 points on the strength of seven 3-pointers in the win at Texas State on Jan. 26. Davis was 7-of-11 from downtown, including 5-of-6 in the first half. She has made five or more 3-pointers in four games this season.
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 matched its season-best with 21 assists in the win at Sam Houston State on Feb. 7. Junior Monica Gibbs led the way with nine dimes. Gibbs is averaging a league-best 5.5 assists per game. The Stillwater, Okla., native has dished out 390 career assists, which is second on UTSA’s all-time chart. She is 17 away from breaking Tammy Rogers’ UTSA record of 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 also paced 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 second on UTSA’s all-time assists chart with 390 and sits 10th with 53 career blocks.
Near perfection: Freshman Whitney York was a near perfect from the field, shooting 8-of-9, including making her first six attempts in the 73-45 win against Weber State on Dec. 30.
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 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, while grabbing a career-best eight boards in the 12-point victory against Belmont.
Stark ropes Mavs: Freshman Jordan Stark posted game-high honors with 21 points, including 13 in the second half, in the win against UT Arlington on Jan. 24. She connected on four 3-pointers.
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.
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.
Birdcage dominance: UTSA has proven time after time that home court advantage can result in a successful season. The Roadrunners are an impressive 225-131 (.632) at the Convocation Center all-time, including 9-2 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 (88) and second-best winning percentage (.685) since 2001. A two-time SLC Coach of the Year, Rippetoe-Blair has posted an overall mark of 233-140 in 11-plus years as a head coach.
Newest addition: UTSA announced on Feb. 5 that Alysse Davis, who hails from Corpus Christi, has transferred from Memphis to play for the Roadrunners for the 2008-09 season. She will have two years of eligibility remaining at UTSA.
Fall signing class: Coach Rippetoe-Blair announced on Nov. 19 the signing of JaMorgan Davis (Nacogdoches, Texas/Nacogdoches HS) to a National Letter of Intent for the 2008-09 season.
Next on tap: UTSA will host a pair of SLC games against Nicholls State on Feb. 16 and Southeastern Louisiana two days later at the Convo.
