MIAMI, Fla. — After trailing by three points at the half, UTSA erupted in the second to pick up its first road victory of the season with a 63-52 win over FIU Thursday night at FIU Arena.
UTSA (6-10, 2-4 C-USA) shot 46.5 percent (13-of-28) in the second half and outscored the Panthers 35-21. The Roadrunners were also aggressive in the paint as they picked up 22 of its 34 points in the paint in the latter half.
FIU (2-15, 0-6 C-USA) went cold shooting only 25 percent (8-of-32) after intermission after firing 45 percent (10-of-22) in the opening half.
Tesha Smith led the charge with 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting and was one board shy of a double double with nine and a pair of blocks.
Meanwhile, Mathilde Hergott netted nine points and tied a career best of three swats.
After a tight opening quarter that saw the score tied at 17, UTSA struggled to keep up the hot-shooting Panthers that saw FIU go 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Trailing by one three at the half, the Roadrunners hustled and managed to tie the game at 36 midway through the third frame. Two ties and three lead changes later, UTSA saw itself leading 44-41 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
The Roadrunners then used a 10-0 run to propel them to a 56-45 advantage, the largest lead held by the Roadrunners, with 4:50 remaining. FIU made only three baskets the rest of the way as the Roadrunners cruised to its first road victory of the year.
Taylor Shade led a pair of Panthers in double figure scoring with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range.
UTSA will wrap up its Sunshine State tour at Florida Atlantic (10-7, 2-4 C-USA) on Saturday with a 4 p.m. (CT) tilt.