SAN ANTONIO — Senior Amber Gregg scored 24 points and junior Ashley Gardner added 17 and grabbed eight rebounds, as UTSA opened the season with a 79-66 win against Our Lady of the Lake on Friday night at the Convocation Center.
Gregg drained 5-of-10 from behind the arc and was 8-for-14 from the floor overall and 3-of-3 at the free-throw line in the first-ever meeting between the two San Antonio schools. Senior Alysse Davis pulled down a game-high 11 boards and sophomore Jermini Malone dished out nine assists.
UTSA built a 14-point lead early in the second half only to see OLLU, which counted the game as an exhibition, make things interesting in the final minutes.
The Roadrunners held a 66-56 lead with just under six minutes to play, but the Saints pulled to within six after Jasmine Fuller made two free throws with 4:58 on the clock. Following the final media timeout, Fuller converted another pair from the charity stripe to make it a four-point game.
Krystal Manning made two more at the line to keep Our Lady of the Lake within four, but UTSA reeled off the next seven points in the final three minutes to ice the game. Gregg moved to within 14 career 3-pointers of Terrie Davis’ school record of 168 when she knocked down a trey from the right wing with 1:55 to play to push the lead to 75-64. The Saints got no closer than nine in the final minutes.
Manning led OLLU with 23 points, while Fuller added 11 and seven rebounds. The Saints shot just 30.4 percent from the field, but they made 16-of-19 (84.2%) at the line.
Malone converted a steal into a layup and Gregg drained a three from the left wing to kick-start an 18-5 run and give the Roadrunners a 29-20 lead with just over four minutes to play in the first half. Gregg drilled another trey during the run and finished the opening stanza with 10 points.
OLLU responded with a 7-0 run to pull to within two with under two minutes on the clock. A three from the left wing by Manning made it 31-30, but Davis connected from downtown just before the buzzer to give the Roadrunners a 34-30 advantage at the break.
UTSA opened the second half on a 13-3 run through the first four minutes. Gregg found the bottom of the net from beyond the arc again to push the lead to 47-33 with 15:43 to play.
The Roadrunners host Huston-Tillotson (0-1) at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
