SAN ANTONIO — UTSA used a balanced scoring attack to put away Texas-Pan American early in a 68-34 victory in the season opener for both teams on Friday night at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners improved to 20-12 all-time in home openers and evened their season-opener mark to 16-16.
Sophomore Kamra King led UTSA with 10 points, while junior Miki Turner and freshman Niaga Mitchell-Cole added eight apiece. Twelve of the 14 players who saw action got in the scoring column.
Senior Whitney Wright and freshman Akunna Elonu both pulled down a game-high eight rebounds to help UTSA post a 52-42 advantage on the glass. The Birds converted 15 offensive boards into 15 second-chance points and they also tallied 34 points in the paint, compared to just four for the Broncs.
UTSA stormed out of the gates and claimed a 12-2 advantage through the first four minutes, four of the points coming off Wright layups.
The lead grew to 20-5 after sophomore Ashley Spaletta drained a 3-pointer midway through the first stanza.
Meanwhile, the Roadrunners held the Broncs to just one field goal — a jumper by Bianca Torre at the 19:10 mark that made her the school’s all-time leading scorer — over the first 12:44 of the contest. UTPA managed only three free throws before Ce’Monay Newell ended the field-goal drought at 11 minutes and 54 seconds with a 3-pointer from the right wing at the 7:16 mark to make it 22-8.
The Broncs eventually closed the gap to 12 after Cassandra Moody connected on a short jumper in the final seconds to make it 32-20 at intermission.
UTSA responded by scoring the first six points of the second half and eventually put the game out of reach with a 15-4 run over the first nine minutes, the final two buckets coming from senior Cori Cooper.
The lead ballooned to 30 after King drained a pair of free throws with 3:12 remaining and the Roadrunners closed out the 34-point victory with a Spaletta trey in the final minute.
UTSA held the Broncs to just 19 percent from the floor (11-of-58), including three of 14 from downtown, and it scored 18 points off 23 Texas-Pan American turnovers.
Newell led all players with a dozen points, while Joyea Marshall grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
The Roadrunners will host Concordia Texas at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 12, at the Convocation Center.