UTSA Roadrunners (18-7, 10-1 SLC) at McNeese State (7-19, 5-7 SLC)
Feb. 28, 2008 ? 7 p.m. ? Burton Coliseum (8,000)
SAN ANTONIO ? After dropping a 85-79 decision to I-35 rival Texas Statelast Saturday at the Convocation Center, UTSA looks to get back on thewinning track Thursday night at McNeese State in Southland Conferenceaction in Lake Charles, La.
On the Web: Fans can listen to the game (Rowdy Zone subscription) atgoUTSA.com. Providing play-by-play announcing will be Assistant SportsInformation Director Carlos Valdez.
Series meeting: This will be the 31st all-time meeting between UTSA andMcNeese State. The Cowgirls lead the series, 16-14. The Roadrunnershave won four of their last five games at Burton Coliseum. UTSA won a87-46 decision in last season’s meeting last season.
Scouting McNeese State: The Cowgirls split a pair of games last week.McNeese fell 69-54 at Northwestern State on Feb. 21 and then handedCentral Arkansas a 76-57 loss in Conway, Ark., two days later. TheCowgirls are 7-19 overall and are 5-7 in league play and battlingSoutheastern Louisiana for the final spot in the SLC Tournament.Courtnee Hollins is averaging a team-best 15.3 points per game, but hasupped that to 19.7 ppg in conference action. Meanwhile Reeshimah Davistops the squad at 5.4 rebounds per contest.
Last meeting: Senior Vivian Ewalefo’s career-high 28 points in 21minutes of action led the UTSA women’s basketball team to an easy 87-46victory against McNeese State on Feb. 22, 2007, at the ConvocationCenter. The Roadrunners shot a season-high 57.9 percent from the field,including 60% in the first half, while the Roadrunners’ defense heldthe Cowgirls to 29% shooting on the night. Ewalefo was 10-of-17 fromthe floor for the Roadrunners. Sophomore Monica Gibbs posted her secondstraight and ninth overall double-double of the year with 12 points and10 rebounds and also dished out eight assists. Senior Ana Oliveira tiedher career-high with 12 points and grabbed a career-best six boards.
Last time out: Texas State used balanced scoring to end UTSA’s winningstreak at 10 games with a 85-79 win on Feb. 23 at the ConvocationCenter. The Roadrunners were led by junior Onika Anderson’s game highsof 23 points and seven rebounds, while junior Monica Gibbs chipped inwith 18 and dished out four assists. Senior Terrie Davis added 13points on the strength of three 3-pointers and freshman Whitney Yorkscored 12 and matched Anderson with seven boards.
UTSA complete sweep of UTA: Senior Terrie Davis and junior OnikaAnderson both scored a game-high 14 points and junior Monica Gibbs justmissed a triple-double to lead UTSA to its 10th win in a row, a 63-46victory at UT Arlington on Thursday night. Gibbs posted her fourthdouble-double of the season with a dozen points and game-high 11rebounds and added a game-best eight assists for the Roadrunners.
Anderson powers to UTSA over Nicholls: Junior Onika Anderson posted herseventh double-double of the season and fifth in the past six gameswith game highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds to lead UTSA to a 82-41victory against Nicholls State on Feb. 16 in the Convocation Center. Itwas the Roadrunners’ ninth win in a row. Junior Monica Gibbs justmissed a triple-double with 10 assists, nine points and eight reboundsfor the Roadrunners (17-6, 9-1 SLC), while senior Amanda Foster and Tia Bogan added 10 and eight points, respectively.
On pace: With four games remaining on the ledger, UTSA is tied for thesecond most wins in a season (18, 7x, most recent 2005-06 season). TheRoadrunners are three victorious away from tying the all-time win totalof 21 set during the 1983-84 season.
Clamping down on opponents: UTSA in holding the opposition to aleague’s best 62.0 points per game and ranks third in defensive fieldgoal percentage at 38.8 percent.
Flat out dominance: During their 10-game winning streak, theRoadrunners have beaten up the opposition on both sides of the ball.UTSA was averaging 72.9 points per game, while holding its opponents to54.4 points per contest (+18.5 scoring margin).
Taking care of the ball: UTSA committed only six turnovers in the winagainst Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 14. The Roadrunners areaveraging a league low 14.2 miscues per game and ranks 17th in thenation. UTSA has the league’s’ second-best turnover margin at +2.88.
Winning streak: UTSA’s 10-game winning streak marked the second longestin school-history and is the longest in SLC play. Meanwhile, theRoadrunners longest winning streak is 13 games set during the 2002-03season (Jan. 9, 2003-Feb. 22, 2003).
Roadrunners sweep SLC champions: After dropping all three meeting lastseason against UT Arlington, UTSA took the season series versus theMavericks this year. The Roadrunners handed the champs with a 76-53 winon Jan. 24 in San Antonio, then dealt UTA a 17-point loss (63-46)Thursday night in Arlington. The margin of victory for the Roadrunnerswas +20.0 points per game.
Taking down SLC contenders: UTSA took down a pair of SLC contenders indefending league champion UT Arlington, 76-53, on Jan. 24 and I-35rival Texas State, 81-68, two days later. Both team entered theirrespective contest undefeated in SLC play, but the Roadrunners dealteach their first conference loss.
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 aconference game, while the four field goals made by UCA were also thefewest FGs in a frame for a league game. Both marks are school records.
Most non-conference wins: The eight non-conference wins that UTSAposted this season was the most by head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair.
Birdcage dominance: UTSA has proven time after time that home courtadvantage can result in a successful season. The Roadrunners are animpressive 228-132 (.633) at the Convocation Center all-time, including12-3 this season. UTSA’s 12 wins at home is tied for most wins at theConvo.
Runners in the SLC: Senior Terrie Davis ranks second the team inscoring and is 13th in the SLC at 12.3 points per game, while freshmanWhitney York’s 10.4 points per outing ranks 20th in the conference.York also is sixth in the league in field goal percentage (45.6percent). Junior Monica Gibbs is fourth in the league at 7.6 reboundsper contest, is dishing out a league-best 6.2 assists per game and iseighth in the conference in steals (2.0 spg). The Stillwater, Okla.,native is tied for 15th in scoring (10.7 ppg).
New assist leader: Junior guard Monica Gibbs became UTSA’s all-timecareer assists leader in the win against Southeastern Louisiana on Feb.14. The Stillwater, Okla., native currently has 431 dimes in her careerand counting. Gibbs dished out a season-high 11 assists in the winagainst Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 9.
Dishing out dimes: UTSA handed out a season-best 23 assists in the winagainst Nicholls State on Feb. 16. Junior Monica Gibbs led the way with10 dimes. She is averaging a league-best 6.2 assists per game and ranks14th in the nation.
Gibbs doubles up: Junior guard Monica Gibbs posted her fourthdouble-double of the season with a 12 points and 11 rebounds at UTArlington on Feb. 21. The Stillwater, Okla., native has 19 careerdouble-doubles, including 13 that she recorded a year ago.
Gibbs collects preseason honors: Junior Monica Gibbs was named to the2007-08 SLC Preseason First Team. Gibbs, who was a second-team All-SLCpick a year ago, led the conference with 13 double-doubles in 29 gamesin 2006-07. The Stillwater, Okla., native also paced the team inrebounding (8.1) and assists (4.7) and her 12.9 points per game rankedsecond on the squad last season. She now owns UTSA’s all-time assistsmark with 426 and is ninth with 56 career blocks.
Anderson doubles Nicholls: Junior forward Onika Anderson collected herteam leading seventh double-double of the season with 26 points and 12rebounds in the win against Nicholls on Feb. 16. She has tallied adouble-double in five of the last six games. The Pine Bluff, Ark.,native scored 19 of her 26 in the first half.
Another double-double week for Anderson: Junior Onika Anderson recordedher second straight week with back-to-back double-doubles. The PineBluff, Ark., native posted her fourth double-double with 12 points and10 rebounds in the win at Sam Houston State on Feb. 7. She thencollected her fifth two days later against Stephen F. Austin with acareer-high 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Anderson cleans it up: Junior Onika Anderson recorded her secondconsecutive double-double in the win against Texas A&M-CorpusChristi on Feb. 2. Anderson scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds inthat contest.
Anderson collects POW: Junior forward Onika Anderson collected herfirst career Southland Conference Player of the Week award, the leagueoffice announced Jan. 28. Anderson averaged 14.5 points and 13.5rebounds per game, as the Roadrunners handed defending league championUT Arlington a 76-53 defeat Jan. 24 and I-35 rival Texas State an 81-68setback two days later. The Pine Bluff, Ark., native scored eightpoints and grabbed nine rebounds in the win against the Mavericks andfollowed that performance with 20 points and a conferenceschool-record-tying 19 rebounds against the Bobcats for her thirddouble-double of the year.
Wiping down the glass: Junior Onika Anderson dominated the glass atTexas State on Jan. 26. The Pine Bluff, Ark., native hauled in aconference school-record-tying 19 rebounds against the Bobcats. Her 19rebounding effort is the third-best performance in a single game schoolhistory.
Davis tames Lady Lions: Senior Terrie Davis scored a game-high 20points, including 16 in the first half, in the win against SoutheasternLouisiana on Feb. 14. Davis leads the team with six 20-point effortsthis season, including a career-high 24 points against Georgia Southernon Nov. 24.
Raining 3’s: Senior Terrie Davis broke UTSA’s all-time 3-point recordon her first attempt at Tulsa on Dec. 1. The Houston native set a newschool-record with a eight 3-pointers against Lamar on Jan. 12. She hasa total of 173 3-pointers for her career. Davis stands fifth in the SLCin 3-point field goal percentage at 38.0 percent and is averaging aleague-best 2.63 3-pointers per game and stands 24th in the nation.
Davis shoots down the Bobcats: Senior Terrie Davis scored 23 points onthe 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.
Scoring them in a row: Freshman guard Whitney York tallied 11 points inthe win against SLU on Feb. 14. The Bryan native scored the final sixpoints of the first half, then opened the second frame with the firstfive points.
Near perfection: Freshman Whitney York was a near perfect from thefield, shooting 8-of-9, including making her first six attempts in the73-45 win against Weber State on Dec. 30.
York earns consecutive SLC honors: Freshman Whitney York became thefirst Roadrunner in school history to earn Southland Conference Playerof the Week honors in consecutive weeks (Nov. 13 and Nov. 20). Yorkposted a career-high 22 points in the 68-60 win against Wichita Stateon Nov. 18. The Bryan native helped UTSA to a pair of wins againstHuston-Tillotson (89-50) on Nov. 9 and Belmont (77-65) on Nov. 11. Inher Roadrunners debut, she tallied 12 points and was 10-of-10 from thefree throw line. York then chipped in with 16 points, while grabbing acareer-best eight boards in the 12-point victory against Belmont.
Stark ropes Mavs: Freshman Jordan Stark posted game-high honors with 21points, including 13 in the second half, in the win against UTArlington on Jan. 24. She connected on four 3-pointers.
Stark collects SLC POW honors: Freshman Jordan Stark, who averaged adouble-double against Missouri State and Tulsa, collected SouthlandConference Player of the Week honors on Dec. 3. The Weatherford, Okla.,native averaged 14.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game en route tocollecting the weekly honor.
Preseason rankings: UTSA, which finished 14-16 overall and 9-7 in SLCplay last season, was picked first and fourth, respectively, in thisyear’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.
Head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair: In her eighth season as head coach, RaeRippetoe-Blair has established herself as the winningest andlongest-tenured head coach in school history. Since her hiring in 2000,the Roadrunners have made the Southland Conference Tournament sevenconsecutive seasons, including two trips to the conference finals (2003and 2006). She currently owns 131 wins at UTSA and her .565 winningpercentage is second-best in school history. The Roadrunners have thesecond-most SLC wins (88) and second-best winning percentage (.685)since 2001. A two-time SLC Coach of the Year, Rippetoe-Blair has postedan overall mark of 238-141 in 11-plus years as a head coach.
Newest addition: UTSA announced on Feb. 5 that Alysse Davis, who hailsfrom Corpus Christi, has transferred from Memphis to play for theRoadrunners for the 2008-09 season. She will have two years ofeligibility remaining at UTSA.
Fall signing class: Coach Rippetoe-Blair announced on Nov. 19 thesigning of JaMorgan Davis (Nacogdoches, Texas/Nacogdoches HS) to aNational Letter of Intent for the 2008-09 season.
Next on tap: The Roadrunners conclude their two-game road swing at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on March 1 at 7 p.m.
