BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — UTSA trailed by three at the half but was unable to keep pace with Rice and the Owls handed the Roadrunners a 75-63 loss in the opening round of the Conference USA Tournament presented by metroPCS on Wednesday night at Bartow Arena.
UTSA saw its season end with a 14-16 overall record, while Rice improved to 18-12 and now will face No. 2 seed Middle Tennessee in the quarterfinals.
Three Roadrunners scored in double figures led by Crystal Chidomere's 23 points. The junior went 8-of-11 from the field and was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. She padded her stat line with six rebounds, five assists, three steals and a pair of blocks.
Meanwhile, Tesha Smith closed out her collegiate career with her program leading 22nd career double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Loryn Goodwin chipped in with 10 points.
A second-half surge by the Owls, along with missed free throws by the Roadrunners, were key elements in the postseason tilt. UTSA was held to 33 percent shooting in the fourth quarter to Rice's 53 percent, as the Owls drew its lead to double digits.
UTSA went 11-of-19 from the charity stripe, including 5-of-12 in the first half.
The Roadrunners trailed by just three points at the half, 35-32, closing in on the Owls lead with five unanswered points by Chidomere.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Goodwin and Carlie Heineman put UTSA on top to start the third quarter, 38-35. Rice responded with a jumper by Lexie Ducat and a pair of free throws from Jasmine Goodwine that gave the Owls the lead that stood up the rest of the way.
The Roadrunners managed to come within three at the 2:19 mark in the third quarter but a 6-0 run pulled the Owls ahead by eight and was shut off with a bucket by Smith to put the Roadrunners back by six at the end of 30 minutes of play, 53-47.
It didn't take long for Rice to lead by double figures after the Owls opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run. Rice led by as many as 18 at the 3:50 mark on a layup by Shani Rainey.
