SAN ANTONIO — Senior Amber Gregg led five players in double-figures with 20 points and the UTSA women’s basketball improved to 2-3 on the season with a 87-67 win against Tulsa in day one action of the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic on Friday night at the Convocation Center.
Junior Ashley Gardner finished with 15 points after a perfect 4-for-4 outing from the field, while senior Alysse Davis and sophomores Jermini Malone and Cori Cooper added 11 apiece. Davis recorded a game-high 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.
Taleya Mayberry led the Golden Hurricane (1-2) with a game-high 23 points.
After falling behind by 11 in the opening minutes, Malone started the comeback with an old-fashioned 3-point play. Following a steal by Davis, Malone connected on a layup while being fouled and hit the ensuing free throw to complete the play.
Malone then collected assists on 3-pointers by Davis and Gregg on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 18 with less than nine minutes to play. Gregg gave the Roadrunners their first lead of the game, hitting three free throws for a 21-20 lead.
After an Amanda Mason layup tied the score at 24, UTSA outscored the Golden Hurricane 16-4 over the last 5:29 to take a 40-28 advantage into the break.
The UTSA defense held Tulsa to just 32-percent shooting from the field and scored 12 points on 10 Golden Hurricane turnovers in the first half.
The opening minutes of the second half went back and forth before the Roadrunners began to add on to their lead.
UTSA rattled off a 12-0 run in just more than two minutes to push the lead to 63-39 with 11 minutes to play. Malone found Ashley Gardner for a baseline jumper to start the run that was capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Gregg and Malone.
The Roadrunners used an 8-0 run to take a 29 point lead (82-53), their largest of the game, with three minutes on the clock and UTSA cruised to a 87-67 final.
UTSA shot a blistering 54.2-percent from the field in the second half, including a perfect 5-for-5 mark from behind the arc.
The defense helped feed the Roadrunners offense all night and finished with 25 points off 19 Tulsa turnovers.
The tournament will conclude on Saturday when UTSA faces Davidson (2-3) at 5 p.m. The Wildcats opened the two-day event with an 80-55 win against North Texas.
