NORFOLK, Va. — Five players scored in double digits and UTSA earned an 81-68 victory at Old Dominion in its regular season finale on Saturday at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners (14-15, 10-8 C-USA) will be the the No. 7 seed at next week's Conference USA Tournament, which is scheduled for March 8-11 on the campus of UAB. UTSA will match up with the No. 10 seed on the opening day.
Loryn Goodwin scored a team-high 19 points and she was a rebound and one assist shy of a triple-double with nine each. The Cypress native also added three steals to her impressive stat line.
Meanwhile, Crystal Chidomere netted 16 points with four steals, three assists and a rebound, while Kasia Kiejdrowska and Carlie Heieman each chipped in with 12 points. Marie Benson registered her second consecutive double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Roadrunners shot 50 percent from the field (34-of-68) and held the Monarchs to just 35 percent shooting (24-of-69). Old Dominion came into the contest averaging nearly 45 percent on the season. UTSA also was 16-of-20 from the free throw line and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Although the Monarchs struck first, UTSA quickly responded with a 14-5 run to take an early led that held through most of Saturday's contest. The Roadrunners closed the first 10 minutes of play with an 18-11 advantage.
Old Dominion (16-13, 11-7 C-USA) battled back in the second quarter, as it sought out a first-round bye with a victory. Jennie Simms scored half the team's points in the second and helped draw the deficit down to one with 1:14 to play, 30-29.
Simms scored the team's first six points, cutting UTSA's lead down to 22-17 with 7:36 remaining. Both team's traded buckets on the ensuing plays but three consecutive makes by Heineman to end the frame helped the Roadrunners to a 32-31 advantage heading to the locker room.
A high-scoring third quarter resulted in another one-point advantage for the Roadrunners, 59-58. UTSA shot 60 percent to Old Dominion's 56.3 percent.
Old Dominion held its first lead since the opening minutes of the first quarter at the 8:25 mark on a layup by Ashley Jackson after going on a 6-0 run. With 4:09 to go, Kiejdrowska hit a triple to regain the Roadrunners lead and spark a 6-0 run. The senior scored six of the Roadrunners eight points in the final minutes.
UTSA put the game away in the fourth quarter as they outscored Old Dominion 22-10 and held the Monarchs to 16 percent shooting from the field, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range.
An 11-2 run by the Roadrunners to start the fourth eventually led to a double-digit lead for the Roadrunners with 4:58 to play. UTSA held Old Dominion scoreless in the last 2:08 of play after Simms made 1-of-2 free throws to put her at 31 points on the day.
