SAN ANTONIO — UTSA opened its annual Thanksgiving Classic with a 69-61 loss to Drake on Friday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners (2-2) held their only lead of the game early on, but they headed into the locker room trailing 35-29 after only shooting 31 percent (10-of-32) in the first half.
Four of the starting five accounted for 23 of the team’s first-half points, while Carlie Heineman added six points off the bench.
Kamra King’s layup at the 18:17 mark gave UTSA a 5-2 lead, but that was the last time UTSA was on top, as the Bulldogs (2-3) responded with a 14-4 run to lead 19-9. The Roadrunners missed 10 consecutive shots from the field during the stretch, but a 3-pointer by King with 10:51 left broke the dry spell.
Ashley Spaletta managed to make it a five-point game with 6:48 to go at 22-17, but it was not enough against the hot-shooting Bulldogs, who shot 48 percent (15-of-31) in the opening half.
The Roadrunners shot only 29 percent (9-of-31) after intermission. Akunna Elonu scored all her nine points and grabbed six of her seven rebounds in the half. Mannasha Bell put up nine points in the second 20 minutes and finished the day with 16 and nine boards.
Back-to-back field goals by UTSA late in the second half made it a two-point game at 54-52 at the 6:10 mark.
However, Drake answered back with four straight points and led by as many as eight to close out the contest.
Lizzy Wendell paced the Bulldogs with 27 points, four rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.
The Roadrunners will be back in action on Sunday when they take on Incarnate Word (2-3) at 5:30 p.m.