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| Junior Monica Gibbs had the 21st double-double of her career on Wednesday. |
KATY ? Junior Monica Gibbs posted her 21st career double-double and junior Onika Anderson poured in a game-high 19 points to lead second-seeded UTSA past No. 6 Northwestern State, 80-56, on Wednesday in first round action at the Southland Conference Tournament at the Merrell Center.
The Roadrunners improved to 21-9 with the victory and tied the school record for wins in a season, which was set in 1983-84. UTSA advances to the semifinal round for the third straight season where it will face No. 2 seed UT Arlington, an 82-68 winner over McNeese State, at noon Friday. The Lady Demons end their season at 15-15.
“We came out with the right mindset from the start and that helped us build a big lead in the first half,” head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair said. “Our focus going in was to limit our turnovers and hit the boards and I thought we did both of those very well today.”
Anderson’s 19 points led three Roadrunners in double figures as Gibbs tallied 14 and a game-best 10 assists for her sixth double-double of the season, while senior Terrie Davis was 4-for-8 from behind the 3-point line en route to 14 points. Senior Amanda Foster pulled down a game-high nine rebounds ? including six on the offensive glass ? and freshman Whitney York pitched in with nine points.
UTSA converted 16 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points and outrebounded Northwestern State by nine overall (44-35). The Roadrunners also scored 42 points in the paint and turned 14 Lady Demons turnovers into 12 points.
The Roadrunners took control of the game early, building a 17-7 lead through the first eight minutes. Northwestern State cut the deficit to 17-13 on a Jessica McPhail trey and a free throw by Tena Matthews, but UTSA responded with a 15-4 run over the next 5:19 and eventually took a 39-23 advantage into the break.
UTSA shot 40 percent and held the Lady Demons to just 9-of-32 (28.1%) from the floor in the half.
The Roadrunners quickly pushed the lead to 55-31 on a Davis conversion from downtown at the 13:59 mark and built as much a 30-point advantage in the waning minutes. It was UTSA's first-ever win against Northwestern State in the SLC Tournament.
Ashli Barnum scored 17 to lead the Lady Demons, while Matthews poured in 16, 11 of which came in the second half.
The Roadrunners won both regular season meetings with UT Arlington, 76-53, on Jan. 24, and, 63-46, on Feb. 21. The Mavericks defeated UTSA, 70-52, in the semifinal round last season en route to winning the 2007 SLC Tournament title.