SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA women's basketball team will travel up IH-35 on Saturday to take on No. 16 Texas at 5 p.m. at the Frank Erwin Center.
The Roadrunners head into the weekend off a 16-day hiatus after collecting back-to-back wins against Abilene Christian and I-35 rival Texas State. It is the longest win streak of the young season for UTSA, as the Roadrunners now have a pair of players averaging double figures.
Helping the Roadrunners in its pair of wins was Waco native Marie Benson, as she recognized by the league office as the Freshman of the Week on Dec. 5. Benson averaged eight points, 5.5 rebounds and three blocks in those two contests and registered career highs of 10 points and four blocks against ACU.
Benson, who is averaging 6.4 points per game on the season, is joined by leading scorer Loryn Goodwin, who is pouring in 19.9 points a night and a team-best 4.9 assists a game. The junior has made the most trips to the line, as she's 44-of-73. Meanwhile, center Tesha Smith adds 10 points a game while grabbing a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game. Smith is an efficient 39.7 percent (27-of-68) from the field.
The 16th-ranked Texas Longhorns host UTSA as part of a five-game home stand. Texas owns a 4-4 overall record and is 4-1 at the Frank Erwin Center. The Longhorns are coming off an 85-61 win against UTRGV on Thursday.
Texas has three players averaging double figures behind the efforts of Brooke McCarty (14.3 ppg), Ariel Atkins (12 ppg) and Joyner Holmes (10.7 ppg). McCarty tops the team with 25 assists while Atkins leads the squad with 15 steals.
The Horns are putting up 72 points a night and holding opponents to 64.3 a game. Defensively, Texas ranks 31st in the NCAA in blocked shots per game with 5.4 swats a game and are on the up-side on the glass grabbing 11.7 more rebounds than its opponents, which is best for 15th in the nation. The Horns' 45 percent shooting percentage is also best for 43rd in the country.
Saturday will mark the seventh all-time meeting in school history with Texas winning all six meetings.
