| Junior Onika Anderson scored a game-high 15 points on Saturday night. |
CORPUS CHRISTI ? The UTSA women’s basketball team snapped its two-game losing with a 60-47 win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday night in Southland Conference action.
”We played well tonight, especially in the second half after starting slow,” head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair said. “Our bench had a great game. We had a lot players step up tonight and that was the key to this win. Defensively, we did a good job by forcing 20 turnovers.”
Junior forward Onika Anderson recorded her team-leading 14th double figures scoring game with a game-high 15 points and she also hauled in seven rebounds. Junior guard Monica Gibbs collected a game-best eight boards and added 11 points for the Roadrunners (19-8, 11-3 SLC). Freshman guard Amber Gregg chipped in with eight points, all coming in the second half.
Mercedes Cooper led the Islanders (10-18, 6-8 SLC) with 10 points, while Adrienne Scott scored nine and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
UTSA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi traded baskets in the first five minutes of the second half, but the Roadrunners gained a six-point advantage on freshman guard Jordan Stark’s second trey of the night to make the score 41-35 with 14:10 left. Gregg’s three-ball midway through the frame gave the Roadrunners a nine-point edge, but Shaye Montgomery pulled the Islanders within 46-40 at the nine-minute mark. However, it would be the closet Texas A&M-Corpus Christi would get the rest of the night.
Gregg’s second 3-pointer gave UTSA its largest lead of the game at 56-43 with 4:15 left and the Roadrunners scored the final four points for the final margin of 13 points.
UTSA took an early 6-2 lead when Anderson connected on a bucket at the 16-minute mark of the first half. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi then grabbed its first lead of the game at 18-14 when Cooper scored four straight points. The Roadrunners regained the lead on back-to-back 3-pointers by Stark and senior forward Amanda Foster with 6:36 left. Deziree Green put the Islanders back on top after completing a three-play with 1:25 to go in the half. Anderson gave the Roadrunners the lead back, but Nyesha Adams nailed on a jumper to give A&M-Corpus Christi one-point edge at the half.
UTSA returns to action on Thursday, March 6, against Sam Houston State at the Convocation Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.