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| Junior Onika Anderson had game highs of 16 points and eight rebounds on Thursday night. |
SAN ANTONIO ? The UTSA women’s basketball team 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 forward Onika Anderson led the Roadrunners (20-8, 12-3 SLC) with game highs of 16 points and eight rebounds, while junior guard Monica Gibbs added 14 on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor.
Whitney Smith posted team bests of 16 points and 11 boards for the Bearkats (1-27, 0-15 SLC) and Lydia Gonzales added 14 points on the night.
Sam Houston State began the second half on a 9-4 run to cut UTSA’s lead to 12 points (42-30) within the first five minutes. Gonzales’ free throws at the 12-minute mark pulled the Bearkats within 10, but back-to-back treys from freshman guard Jordan Stark highlighted an 8-2 run that gave the Roadrunners a 58-40 edge with 8:47 remaining. Leasa Ailshie connected on a 3-pointer from the right wing to get Sam Houston within 62-47 with under seven minutes to go, but it would be the closet the Bearkats would get the rest of the night. The Roadrunners scored 14 of the final 18 points to end the contest.
UTSA took the early lead at 15-12 on freshman guard Whitney York’s driving layup with 14:03 to go in the first half. The Roadrunners then extended their lead to 26-16 when senior guard Terrie Davis connected on her second three-ball of the half at the six-minute mark. Ailshie ended a Bearkats seven-minute scoreless drought with a 3-pointer at the four-minute mark. UTSA closed out the frame on a 12-2 run to push its lead to 17 (38-21) at the half.
UTSA closes out its regular season at Stephen F. Austin at 6 p.m. on Saturday.