SAN ANTONIO — Senior Ashleigh Franklin recorded her first double-double of the season, but SMU used a 15-2 run midway through the first half en route to a 69-47 victory on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
Franklin’s 10 points and 11 rebounds paced the Roadrunners (2-2), but Raquel Christian scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Mustangs (1-2) to their first win of the year.
SMU jumped out to a 12-8 lead in the first 10 minutes. UTSA made just three of its first 16 shots but managed to stay close by forcing six turnovers while committing just two of its own. However, the Mustangs went on a 15-2 run to push their lead to 17 (27-10) and took a commanding 32-18 advantage into the locker room.
The Roadrunners could not capitalize on SMU's 12 first-half turnovers, scoring just four points off those miscues and they shot just 17 percent from the field, including an 0-for-10 effort from behind the 3-point line.
After falling behind by as many as 20 points early in the second half, UTSA managed to pull within 13 with seven minutes to play, but four consecutive misses at the free throw line followed by back-to-back 3-pointers from the Mustangs pushed the lead back to 19 and the Roadrunners got no closer than that the rest of the way.
SMU shot 57 percent from the floor in the second half (53 percent overall) and it was 7-for-12 from downtown.
UTSA retired the No. 33 jersey of Monica Gibbs during a halftime ceremony following a career that saw her set school records for rebounds (990), rebounding average (8.0), assists (693), games played (123) and games started (113).
The Roadrunners will hit the hardwood again next weekend when they host their annual Thanksgiving Classic. Davidson, North Texas and Tulsa will join UTSA for the two-day tournament that begins Friday evening.
