SAN ANTONIO — Senior Amber Gregg scored a season-high 29 points and she helped lead the UTSA women’s basketball team to an 81-64 victory against I-35 rival Texas State on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners (14-13, 10-4 SLC) swept the season series for the third consecutive year.
Gregg tied the program’s single-game with 17 free, as UTSA reclaimed the top spot in the Southland Conference’s West Division.
Senior Alysse Davis recorded her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Lyndi Thorman scored 11.
Diamond Ford led the Bobcats (9-18, 4-10 SLC) with 14 points.
Davis helped UTSA get off to a quick start by scoring the squad’s first seven points with a 3-pointer and a pair of jumpers.
The Roadrunners began to work the ball inside and two baskets by Thorman sandwiched around a fast-break layup from sophomore Jermini Malone made it 13-4.
Minutes later, UTSA made its move with a 16-2 run, which blew the game open.
Senior Kameisha Johnson ignited the spurt with a driving basket, while junior Ashley Gardner scored six points in the stretch that gave the Birds a 32-14 lead.
Junior Ijeoma Waturuocha and senior Kelsey Ansley each connected from the field in the waning minutes of the stanza and the Roadrunners took a 39-22 lead into the break.
The Bobcats scored the first six points of the second half to whittle the lead down to 11 (39-28) before another Davis 3-pointer ended a four-minute scoreless stretch for the Roadrunners.
Texas State’s half-court pressure forced UTSA into 10 second-half turnovers.
With three-and-a-half minutes remaining, Chika Ofoegbu’s 3-point play cut the lead to nine at 66-57.
However, that would be as close as the Bobcats would get the rest of the way, as a pair of free throws by senior Ashleigh Franklin extended the lead to double digits for good.
UTSA made eight free throws in the final minute to erase all hopes of a Texas State comeback.
Gregg made seven freebies in the final 1:01 to tie Monica Gibbs’ single-game mark, which was set against the Bobcats in 2009.
The Austin native also recorded five assists, while Malone tallied four, to help the Birds log 14 helpers for the game.
UTSA closes out their Southland road schedule at Central Arkansas (17-10, 9-5 SLC) on Wednesday, March 2. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
