No. 3 UTSA Roadrunners (20-9) vs No. 6 Northwestern State Lady Demons (15-14)
March 12, 2008 ? 2:30 p.m. ? Merrell Center (5,600)
Series Record: Northwestern State leads, 25-9
Last Meeting: UTSA, 68-62, in Natchitoches, La.
SAN ANTONIO - The No. 3 seed UTSA will face sixth-seeded Northwestern State in first round action of the 2008 Southland Conference Tournament at the Merrell Center in Katy. Tip-off slated for 2:30 p.m.
On the Web: Fans can listen to the game (Rowdy Zone subscription) at goUTSA.com. Providing play-by-play announcing will be Assistant Sports Information Director Carlos Valdez. Live stats and video will be provided by southland.org.
Series meeting: This will be the 35th all-time meeting between UTSA and Northwestern State. The Lady Demons lead the series, 25-9. However, the Roadrunners won the regular season meeting 68-62 in Natchitoches, La., on Jan. 19. This will be the first meeting at a neutral site. The Lady Demons hold 2-0 advantage in postseason play against the Roadrunners. The last time UTSA and Northwestern State face each other in the SLC tournament was back on March 7, 2005, with the Lady Demons winning 51-48 in Natchitoches, La.
Scouting Northwestern State: The Lady Demons ended their regular season with a 74-8 win at Central Arkansas on March 8. Northwestern State is 15-14 overall and have won four of its last five games. Tena Matthews, who garnered first-team all-conference honors, leads the team in scoring (15.2 ppg) and rebounding (9.6 rpg). Meanwhile, Ashli Barnum stands second on the squad averaging 9.3 points per contest.
Last meeting: 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.
Last time out: Junior Onika Anderson and freshman Jordan Stark combined for 36 points, but it wasn’t enough, as Stephen F. Austin held on for a 57-54 win on Saturday night in Southland Conference action at Johnson Coliseum. Anderson and Stark both scored 18 points for the Roadrunners (20-9, 12-4 SLC). Anderson also hauled in a team-high eight rebounds, while Stark went 4-of-9 from downtown. Junior guard Monica Gibbs added six points and recorded three blocks on the night.
Runners routs Sam Houston State: UTSA collected its 20th win of the season with a 76-51 victory over Sam Houston State on Thursday night at the Convocation Center. It is the first 20-victory campaign in head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair’s tenure and just the second in the program’s 27-year history. Junior Onika Anderson led the Roadrunners with game highs of 16 points and eight rebounds, while junior Monica Gibbs added 14 on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor.
Second-half surge lifts UTSA past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi: UTSA snapped its two-game losing with a 60-47 win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi March 1 in Southland Conference action. Junior 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 Monica Gibbs collected a game-best eight boards and added 11 points for the Roadrunners. Freshman Amber Gregg chipped in with eight points, all coming in the second half.
All-Southland Conference performers: UTSA landed three players on the All-Southland Conference teams. Junior guard Monica Gibbs, who was the 2006 SLC Freshman of the Year and a second-team all-league selection a year ago, earned first-team honors, junior forward Onika Anderson collected second-team accolades and was named the league’s Newcomer of the Year and senior guard Terrie Davis was a third-team selection.
Runners in the tourney: Since joining the Southland Conference in 1992, UTSA 7-9 all-time in postseason play. The Roadrunners have appeared in the conference finals twice (2003 and 2006).
20-win season: Head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair posted her first 20-victory campaign during her tenure at UTSA and just the second in the program’s 27-year history and are one victory away from tying the all-time win total of 21 set during the 1983-84 season.
Clamping down on opponents: UTSA in holding the opposition to a league’s best 60.6 points per game and ranks third in defensive field goal percentage at 38.2 percent.
Taking care of the ball: UTSA committed a season-low six turnovers in the win against Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 14. The Roadrunners are averaging a league low 14.4 miscues per game and ranks 17th in the nation. UTSA has the league’s’ third-best turnover margin at +2.45.
Winning streak: UTSA’s 10-game winning streak marked the second longest in school-history and is the longest in SLC play. Meanwhile, the Roadrunners longest winning streak is 13 games set during the 2002-03 season (Jan. 9, 2003-Feb. 22, 2003).
Flat out dominance: During their 10-game winning streak this season, the Roadrunners had been beaten up the opposition on both sides of the ball. UTSA was averaging 72.9 points per game, while holding its opponents to 54.4 points per contest (+18.5 scoring margin).
Roadrunners sweep SLC Champions: After dropping all three meeting last season against UT Arlington, UTSA took the season series versus the Mavericks this year. The Roadrunners handed the champs with a 76-53 win on Jan. 24 in San Antonio, then dealt UTA a 17-point loss (63-46) Thursday night in Arlington. The margin of victory for the Roadrunners was +20.0 points per game.
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.
Birdcage dominance: UTSA has proven time after time that home court advantage can result in a successful season. The Roadrunners are an impressive 229-132 (.634) at the Convocation Center all-time, including 13-3 this season. UTSA’s 13 wins at home is most victories in school-history at the Convo.
Runners in the SLC: Senior Terrie Davis ranks second the team in scoring and is 15th in the SLC at 11.4 points per game, while freshman Whitney York’s 10.1 points per outing ranks 21st in the conference. York also is eighth in the league in field goal percentage (45.4 percent). Junior Monica Gibbs is fifth in the league at 7.7 rebounds per contest, is dishing out a league-best 5.7 assists per game and is eighth in the conference in steals (2.0 spg). The Stillwater, Okla., native is tied for 16th in scoring (10.9 ppg).
New assist leader: Junior guard Monica Gibbs became UTSA’s all-time career assists leader in the win against Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 14. The Stillwater, Okla., native currently has 436 dimes in her career and counting. Gibbs dished out a season-high 11 assists in the win against Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 9.
Dishing out dimes: UTSA handed out a season-best 23 assists in the win against Nicholls State on Feb. 16. Junior Monica Gibbs led the way with 10 dimes. She is averaging a league-best 5.7 assists per game and ranks 16th in the nation.
Gibbs doubles up: Junior guard Monica Gibbs posted her fifth double-double of the season with a 14 points and 11 rebounds at McNeese State Feb. 28. The Stillwater, Okla., native has 20 career double-doubles, including 13 that she recorded a year ago.
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 now owns UTSA’s all-time assists mark with 426 and is ninth with 56 career blocks.
O collects another double-double: Junior forward Onika Anderson tallied her team-leading eighth double-double of the season. Anderson scored 12 points and hauled in 13 rebounds at McNeese State on Feb. 28.
Anderson doubles Nicholls: Junior forward Onika Anderson collected her team leading seventh double-double of the season with 26 points and 12 rebounds in the win against Nicholls on Feb. 16. She has tallied a double-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 recorded her second straight week with back-to-back double-doubles. The Pine Bluff, Ark., native posted her fourth double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win at Sam Houston State on Feb. 7. She then collected her fifth two days later against Stephen F. Austin with a career-high 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
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 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. Her 19 rebounding effort is the third-best performance in a single game school history.
Davis tames Lady Lions: Senior Terrie Davis scored a game-high 20 points, including 16 in the first half, in the win against Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 14. Davis leads the team with six 20-point efforts this season, including a career-high 24 points against Georgia Southern on Nov. 24.
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 180 3-pointers for her career. Davis stands 10th in the SLC in 3-point field goal percentage at 35.6 percent and is second averaging 2.48 3-pointers per game and stands 35th in the nation.
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.
Scoring them in a row: Freshman guard Whitney York tallied 11 points in the win against SLU on Feb. 14. The Bryan native scored the final six points of the first half, then opened the second frame with the first five points.
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.
Off the bench: Freshman guard Jordan Stark poured 18 points coming off the bench at Stephen F. Austin on March 8. She also connected on four 3-pointers, including three in the first half.
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.
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.
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 131 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 240-142 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 either face the winner of the No. 2 seed UT Arlington/seventh-seeded McNeese State in the semifinals game on March 14. Tip-off slated for noon.
