CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Loryn Goodwin poured in a game-high 24 points, while Tesha Smith went for her seventh double-double of the season on 11 points and 11 rebounds, but UTSA suffered a 78-67 loss at Charlotte Thursday night at Halton Arena.
Smith's seventh double-double performance of the season brings her career total to 21 and matches the program mark set by Monica Gibbs (2005-09). Gibbs is one of the program's all-time greats, as she ranks in the UTSA top 10 in nine categories.
Meanwhile, Goodwin's 24 points is her 25th double-digit scoring performance, as she went 7-of-19 from the field, including 2-of-6 from the behind arc, and was 8-of-13 from the charity stripe. Goodwin padded her stat line with seven rebounds, three assists and five steals.
Marie Benson also added a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Charlotte (19-9, 11-6 C-USA) looked to make a jump in the Conference USA standings and break away from its tie with Old Dominion. The 49ers scored quick early buckets to jump to a 7-2 lead but Goodwin helped turn things around. The junior led a 10-2 UTSA run, contributing seven of her own, as the Roadrunners took a 12-9 lead with 3:26 to go. The Roadrunners lead would not hold for long as the 49ers rebounded from their scoring lull on a 12-4 run to lead 21-16 heading into the second quarter.
The two teams traded scores most of the way through the second stanza and with two and a half minutes before the half, Charlotte created some distance with seven unanswered points. Freshman Deja Cousin ended the 49ers run on a trey with 41 seconds to play and helped cut the Roadrunners deficit to single digits and put UTSA back 41-32 at the half.
In the third quarter, Carlie Heineman sparked a 7-0 tear for UTSA (13-15, 9-5 C-USA) to bring the Roadrunners within six at the 3:08 mark, 49-43. UTSA shot 13 percent from the field and matched Charlotte in scoring with 16 points to give themselves a chance in the fiinal 10 minutes of play.
UTSA started the fourth quarter with five unanswered points — all from Smith — to make it 57-53 Charlotte. The 49ers eventually drew their lead back to double figures with 2:48 to play, a lead that held the rest of the way.
Grace Hunter led Charlotte with 23 points and added seven rebounds, five blocks and one steal.
The 49ers scored 17 of its points off of UTSA's 15 turnovers with 42 points coming in the paint and 25 off fastbreaks.
UTSA will end the regular season on Saturday when it travels to Old Dominion for a noon (CT) contest, which will air on ESPN3.
