| Sophomore Whitney York was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field on Friday night. |
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Sophomore Whitney York scored a game-high 18 points to lead four players in double figures, as the UTSA women’s basketball team held on for a 75-73 win at Charleston Southern Friday night at Buccaneer Field House.
The Roadrunners improved to 2-1 on the season, while the Buccaneers dropped to 1-1 on the year.
York, who battled foul trouble, went a perfect 8-for-8 from the field, eight of which were layups. Freshman Judy Jones posted 15 points, dished out a game-high seven assists and hauled in eights rebounds. Jones also tallied four thefts, as the Roadrunners scored 26 points off 19 Buccaneers’ miscues.
Junior Ashleigh Franklin recorded her third consecutive double-double to open the season with 12 points and 10 boards, while junior Amber Gregg chipped in with 14 points on the strength of four 3-pointers.
The Roadrunners held a 50-34 points in the paint advantage, including 26 coming in the first half.
York scored six straight points and a Gregg 3-pointer highlighted a 9-3 run for UTSA to make it a 45-38 lead with 17:38 to go. Charleston Southern regained the lead, since the first minute of the first half, when Helen Terry went coast-to-coast and a free throw by Kelsey Wasmer put the Buccaneers up one (48-47) with 14:31 remaining. On the next Roadrunners possession, Gregg’s fourth three ball of the game gave UTSA back the 50-48 lead.
The Buccaneers pulled within 52-51 on Lakeitha Alston’s put back layup with under 12 minutes to play.
A Kameisha Johnson 3-pointer and layups by Franklin and Jones extended UTSA’s to six (59-53) midway through the stanza.
The Buccaneers mounted one last rally with the help of a 12-6 run that tied the game at 65-65 at the 5-minute mark, but the Runners pulled away with three straight layups with 2:28 left.
Katie Tull drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it a two-point game with 27 seconds showing on the clock, but York’s freebies increased it to four (75-71), as UTSA held on for the win
Charleston Southern took the early 2-0 lead, but UTSA responded with a 15-4 run over the next four minutes. Jones and York combined for eight of the 15 points scored during that span.
Freshman Whitney Wright’s layup gave the Roadrunners their largest lead of the game 16 points (25-9) with under 14 minutes to go in the frame.
Charleston Southern closed out the frame with a 24-11 run to make the score 36-33 at the half.
Tull and Terry paced CSU’s offense with 16 points, while Wasmer added 13 points.
UTSA concludes its two-game road trip at 3 p.m. (CT) on Saturday when it players College of Charleston in the final game of the Lowcountry Classic.