SAN ANTONIO — Abilene Christian rallied in the final minutes against UTSA to cut the deficit down to four, but the Roadrunners held on to defeat the Wildcats by a score of 71-68 on Tuesday night at the Convocation Center.
UTSA (2-5) held a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter with 8:25 remaining that would quickly diminish within a minute-and-a-half behind three 3-pointers by Abilene Christian, 61-57.
The Roadrunners responded back with a 3-pointer from Carlie Heineman that drew the lead back to seven and eventually back to 10 points at the 3:08 mark, 69-59. The cushion would be all that UTSA would need despite ACU finishing the game on a 9-2 run.
Tuesday night's thriller saw four Roadrunners reach double digits with a game-high 16 points from Loryn Goodwin. Goodwin matched a career best eight steals and was one shy of tying the single-game record by Rhonda Hoffman (vs. Sam Houston, Jan. 27, 1984). Tesha Smith went for 17 points and grabbed nine boards, to go along with a career best four steals. Meanwhile, Marie Benson and Crystal Chidomere chipped in with 10 points each.
The Roadrunners shot 40.9 percent (27-of-66) from the field and were 14-of-20 from the free throw line. Smith had another stellar performance from the charity stripe as she went 7-of-9.
UTSA's second win of the season comes off a strong second quarter that propelled the Roadrunners to a 37-24 advantage at the half. Abilene Christian (3-3) held a two-point lead after the opening stanza, 15-13, which was quickly taken back in the opening seconds of the second. UTSA outscored ACU 24-9.
Dominique Golightly led three ACU players in double figures with 14 points and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, including 3-of-3 from behind the arc.
UTSA will return to the Convocation Center on Thursday, Dec. 1, when the welcome I-35 rival Texas State at 7 p.m.
