SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will continue its four-game road swing on Saturday when it takes on UAB at 2 p.m.
The Roadrunners (10-10) head to Birmingham off Thursday's hard-fought battle at Middle Tennessee. UTSA, which led after the first quarter but began to fall behind in the second, picked up the pace and came within one at the end of the third frame but was unable to overcome the deficit.
Despite the loss, UTSA holds onto fourth place in the standings with its 6-3 mark. The Roadrunners own the best scoring offense in C-USA games putting up 75.2 points a game but allowing opponents to score 72.4 a night. UTSA ranks top three in free throw percentage (3rd/74.9) and steals (3rd/9.4).
Tesha Smith, a big contributor to the Roadrunners' success in league play, ranks fifth both in points (19.7) and rebounds (8.1) per game, while Loryn Goodwin is averaging a ninth-best 17.7 points and 10th-best 6.8 caroms a night in C-USA.
UAB welcomes the Roadrunners off a 74-61 victory over UTEP on Thursday night. The Blazers (11-10) tie for eighth in the league with Marshall with a 4-6 record and are 3-2 in their last five contests.
The Blazers top the league in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 38.9 percent (157-of-404), which is best for 12th in the nation. The team also ranks 60th in 3-pointers made. Defensively, UAB protects the arc well allowing a C-USA second best 29.4 percent shooting and is also good for 81st in the nation.
Rachael Childress leads the UAB offense averaging 12.2 points a night, most in part from her performance behind the arc. Childress is shooting nearly 41 percent and has made 63 treys to lead the team (89 total field goals on the season).
UAB has a pair of Blazers players who have surpassed the century mark in rebounds with Keonna Farmer topping the team with 148 boards (seven a game) while Kara Rawls adds 107 caroms and is second on the team with 15 blocks.
