SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA women's basketball team will welcome Northern Illinois University (NIU), North Dakota (UND) and Lamar to the Alamo City this weekend when the Roadrunners host their annual Thanksgiving Classic on Friday and Saturday at the Convocation Center.
The two-day classic will begin with a 2 p.m. matchup between Lamar and North Dakota, while UTSA locks up with NIU at 4 p.m.
On Saturday, NIU and Lamar get the action started at noon with UTSA and North Dakota facing off at 2 p.m.
Tickets for the classic can be purchased here. Each Roadrunner game at the event will be streamed on CUSAtv.com (subscription based) with Stu Paul on the call.
The Roadrunners head into the weekend off a loss to No. 2 Texas on the road. For the second straight game, Crystal Chidomere, led the Roadrunners (1-3) in the scoring column. The Houston native poured in 19 points, including 11 in the third quarter. Chidomere was joined in double figures by Marie Benson, who netted 15. Freshman Karrington Donald added 11, while junior Alexus Dukes chipped in with 10.
Averaging 22.5 points per game, Chidomere currently guides the Roadrunners with a .586 field goal percentage. The senior is followed by Benson, who is averaging 15.8 points for a total of 63 points this season. The sophomore has also added a team-best 40 rebounds and a squad-high six steals. Carlie Heineman is the only other player averaging double-figures with 12.5 per game.
NIU heads into the weekend with a 3-1 standing including back-to-back wins over Western Illinois University and Chicago State University. Leading the way for the Huskies are guard Courtney Woods and forward Kelly Smith. Woods paces the team with 80 points as she averages 20 points per game. Having played 118 minutes these season, she's also added 32 rebounds, seven assists, five steals and a block. Smith follows close behind with 72 points (18.0 per game) on the season, while adding 26 rebounds, six assists, six blocks and three steals.
Northern Illinois and UTSA will meet for the first time since 1991 when the Huskies defeated the Roadrunners, 103-73, in the Great Alaskan Shootout.
North Dakota will take its third road trip this season for the classic. The Fighting Hawks are looking to extend their momentum for an 82-52 victory over Massachusetts. The win was North Dakota's first over an Atlantic-10 team for head coach Travis Brewster and its first win over an A-10 team since the 2011-12 season. North Dakota has played just three games against the A-10 since making the Division I transition in 2008-09.
Leading the Fighting Hawks is Lexi Klabo, who was named the Big Sky Conference's Player of the Week and the CollegeSportsMadness.com league player of the week honoree after a pair of double-doubles. She averaged 22.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.5 blocks in games at South Dakota State and against UMass.
Saturday's match-up against the Fight Hawks will the first meeting between the UTSA and UND.
Lamar comes to the classic with a 3-2 record having defeated Louisiana College, Southwestern Assemblies of God and Howard Payne. The Cardinals (3-2) were a postseason team last year, qualifying for the WBI tournament. This season, Lamar is picked to win the Southland Conference in a poll of the SLC's coaches and sports information directors. Chastadie Barrs paces the Cards in points with 16 per game, including solid performances against national powers. She scored 16 against third-ranked Baylor and 18 against Purdue last Saturday.
