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| Junior Amber Gregg scored a career-high 32 points on Saturday. |
SAN ANTONIO — Junior Amber Gregg, who set a single-game mark for a half with six 3-pointers, posted a career-high 32 points to lead the UTSA women’s basketball team past Jacksonville State, 81-69, on Saturday at the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic.
The Roadrunners improved to 4-2 on the season, while the Gamecocks remain winless on the year at 0-6.
Gregg, who netted 23 of her 32 points in the first half, set career bests with seven 3-pointers and 11 field goals on the night. Her 32 points are tied for the fourth most by a Roadrunner in a single game and is the first 30-point game since Rosie Smith netted 30 against Lamar on Feb. 20, 1999. The Austin native was named to the All-Tournament Team, while sophomore Whitney York joined Gregg on the All-Classic team. The Bryan native scored a season-high 20 points, two shy of her career best, to go along with a game-high six assists.
Junior Ashleigh Franklin and freshman Jermini Malone chipped in with a dozen points each. Sophomore Shantel Nwanguma hauled in a game-best eight rebounds, while Franklin and freshman Whitney Wright collected a half dozen boards apiece.
Gregg’s six first-half treys helped give UTSA a 48-31 advantage at the break. She opened the second half with a three-point play to give UTSA its largest lead of the game at 51-31.
The Gamecocks responded with a 10-3 run over the next four minutes and 10 seconds to close UTSA’s lead to 51-41. Both teams traded buckets over the next several minutes, until the Roadrunners put the game out of reach with a 21-11 run capped by another Gregg three at the 7:43 mark.
Jacksonville State mounted one last rally with a 14-1 run over the next four minutes to make it a seven-point game (73-66). Brittany Wiley led the way with eight points during that spurt.
York responded with a three-point play and layup to push the lead back to double digits a minute later, as the Roadrunners collected the 12-point win.
Jacksonville State took an early 13-5 lead on 3-pointers from Destiny Lane and Wiley in the first five minutes of the first half. Lane then banked in a three-ball from the top of the key to push the Gamecocks lead to 10 points (19-9) with 13:40 to go in the frame.
Gregg connected on a pair of 3-pointers and then added a free throw to cut JSU’s lead to 23-20 midway through the stanza.
The Roadrunners then took control of the game with the help of a 21-6 run that spanned six minutes en route to reclaiming the lead, 41-29. Gregg and Malone contributed with 16 of the 21 points scored during that run.
Jacksonville State was led by All-Classic performer Brittany Wiley’s team-high 17 points, while Danielle Vaughn and Jolie Efezokhae added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
UTSA closes out its three-game home stand against Houston on Monday, Dec. 7, at the Alamodome. Tipoff is scheduled for noon.
UTSA Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team
Cassie Consedine, Navy
Amber Gregg, UTSA
Ashley Lord, Western Illinois
Brittany Wiley, Jacksonville State
Whitney York, UTSA