| Senior Monica Gibbs scored 16 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and had five steals on Friday night. |
COZUMEL, Mexico ? The UTSA women’s basketball fell
70-57 against Oakland in the second game of the Cozumel Cup on Friday night at
the Poliforum.
Senior guard Monica Gibbs collected her 27th career
double-double with team highs of 16 points and a dozen rebounds, and she tied her career-high with five steals. Sophomore
guard Amber Gregg chipped in with a career-high 15 points, while senior
forward Onika Anderson grabbed 10 boards for the Roadrunners (2-6).
The Golden Grizzles (7-3) were led by Melissa Jeltema’s game-high 17 points and team-best 11 rebounds.
Oakland netted the first five points of the second half to
retake the lead at 33-30. Back-to-back thefts by Gibbs led to four quick points, which put the Birds back on top with 15:56 remaining.
OU used a 7-0 run spurt to retake the lead at 40-36
with 12 minutes to play. Anderson’s reverse layup got UTSA within two with 7:22 to go, but it would be the closest the Roadrunners would get.
The
Golden Grizzles pushed their lead to 59-48 with the help of a 13-4 run
over the next four minutes.
Sophomore guard Whitney York's layup
pulled UTSA within eight with a minute to play, but OU clinched the game
down the stretch by making its free throws.
UTSA jumped to an early 11-2 lead, but Oakland made a pair of three balls
to cut the Roadrunners' deficit 16-10 at the 16-minute mark.
A quick 7-0 run by the Golden Grizzles gave them
their first lead of the game at 19-18 with 8:27 to go. The Roadrunners
regained the lead on Gibbs’ layup with 5:33 left. Jeltema connected on
a 3-pointer from the left corner to tie the game at 28, but Gregg’s layup
just before the buzzer gave the Roadrunners a two-point edge at the
half.
UTSA returns to action in a 5 p.m. contest against Oral Roberts on Saturday.