UTSA Roadrunners (13-6, 5-1 SLC) at Sam Houston State Lady Bearkats (1-19, 0-7 SLC)
Feb. 7, 2008 ? 6:30 p.m. ? Johnson Coliseum (6,100)
SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA hits the road for a Southland Conference tilt at Sam Houston State this Thursday on Feb. 7. Tip-off is slated for 6:30 p.m.
On the Web: Fans can listen to the game (Rowdy Zone subscription) at goUTSA.com. Providing play-by-play announcing is Assistant Sports Information Director Carlos Valdez. Live stats will be provided by Sam Houston State at gobearkats.com.
On TV: UTSA is scheduled 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 40th all-time meeting between UTSA and Sam Houston State. The Roadrunners lead the series, 26-13 and have won the last 10 meetings against the Lady Bearkats, including five in a row in Huntsville.
Scouting Sam Houston State: The Lady Bearkats dropped a pair of SLC games last week at Texas State and at UT Arlington. Sam Houston State is 1-19 overall and 0-7 in league play. The Lady Bearkats lone win came against Western Illinois back on Nov. 24, Since then they have lost 14 consecutive games. Whitney Smith is averaging a team-best 12.5 points per game, while Lydia Gonzales ranks first on the team with a 8.6 rebounds per contest. Gonzales also stands second on the squad in scoring (10.8 ppg).
Last time out: 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, who also dished out a game-high six assists to push her career total to 381, passed Rhonda Hoffman for second place on UTSA’s all-time assists list.
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 73.2 points per game, while holding its opponents to 57.6 points per contest (+15.6 scoring margin).
Balanced scoring: During its current five-game winning streak, UTSA has four Roadrunners in double figures scoring led by junior Onika Anderson’s 15.0 points per game. Meanwhile, senior Terrie Davis and junior Monica Gibbs are averaging 12.6 and 12.0 points per contest, respectively, while senior Amanda Foster is logging 10.4 ppg.
Record-setting half: The 11 points scored by Central Arkansas on Jan. 17 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 FGs in a half for a conference 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 12.1 points per game, while freshman Whitney York’s 10.8 points per outing rank third on team and 13th in the conference. York also is fifth in the league in field goal percentage (47.8 percent). Junior Monica Gibbs is tied for third in the league at 7.6 rebounds per contest, is dishing out a league-best 5.5 assists per game and ranks fourth in the conference in steals (2.4 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. In her last two games, she is averaging 22.0 points and 17.5 rebounds.
Anderson collects POW: Junior forward Onika Anderson, who averaged a double-double last week in a pair of UTSA double-digit victories, 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. She joins freshmen two-time honoree Whitney York and Jordan Stark as UTSA has collected four weekly awards this season.
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 162 3-pointers for her career. Davis stands fifth in the SLC in 3-point field goal percentage at 39. 2 percent and ranks second in the league averaging 2.58 3-pointers made 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 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 381 career assists, which is second on UTSA’s all-time chart. She is 26 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 third on UTSA’s all-time assists chart with 375 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 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.
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 returns home for an SLC matchup against Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 9. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and will be televised by Time Warner Cable channel 50.
