SAN ANTONIO – UTSA will look to open the month of December on a high note when it heads south to Edinburg to participate in the UTRGV Battle on the Border. The Roadrunners will take on Mississippi Valley State in the first game of the tournament at 4:30 p.m., on Friday, Dec. 1. On Saturday, UTSA will close out the tournament versus host UTRGV at 3 p.m.
This weekend's contests will audio stream on goUTSA.com with Stu Paul providing play-by-play. UTSA's game against UTRGV will also stream live on the WAC Digital Network.
Traffic advisory
Due to the city of Edinburg's Annual Night of Lights Parade, which runs from the corner of University Dr. and Sugar Rd. to the Hidalgo County Courthouse Parking lot (Town Square), there will be several road closures around the university from 5-9 p.m. University Dr. and Sugar Rd. will be closed across campus.
Fans will be able to access UTRGV via Schunior Rd. To reach Schunior Rd., fans should proceed one block north of University Dr. on streets west of Sugar Rd. such as Jackson Rd., or streets east of Closner Blvd. such as Expressway 281/Frontage Rd.
Last time out
UTSA hits the road after hosting its annual Thanksgiving Classic. In this year's classic, the Roadrunners challenged Northern Illinois University and North Dakota. The weekend was highlighted by a season-best performance from senior Carlie Heineman, as the guard erupted for a team-best 20 points including six three-pointers in UTSA's classic finale against North Dakota.
Series history vs. Mississippi Valley State
UTSA leads the short all-time series by a 1-0 count. The series' only meeting came in 1984 with a 56-54 Roadrunner win in the Queen's Classic.
Series history vs. UTRGV
UTSA controls the all-time series against the Vaqueros 19-6, including eight road victories. The series began in 1982 with the last meeting at the Convocation Center in November of 2012 for a 68-34 Roadrunner triumph.
Plenty of playing time to go around
The Roadrunners have only 13 active players this year, meaning that there's going to be plenty of playing time to go around. Head Coach Kristen Holt has done a good job of spreading the minutes around with eight different Roadrunners (Carlie Heineman - 33.0, Marie Benson – 28.5, Tija Hawkins – 26.5, Crystal Chidomere / Tasharian Robinson – 26.0, Kourtney Kekec – 24.0, Karrington Donald – 21.5, Billie Marlow – 16.8) logging at least 16 minutes per contest.
Game format
For the third straight season, NCAA women's basketball games will be played in four 10-minute quarters. Teams reach the bonus and shoot two free throws on the fifth team foul in each quarter. In the four-quarter format, team fouls reset to zero at the start of each quarter. Teams have four timeouts (three 30s, one 60), three which carry over to the second half. They will be able to advance the ball to the frontcourt after a timeout with less than 59.9 seconds in 4Q. There are seven media timeouts (four under five minutes in quarter/first called), two intermission media timeouts (after first and third quarters) and the first team-called timeout during the second half. Bands or amplified music may play during any dead ball.
Up next
UTSA stays on the road with a trip to Texas State in San Marcos on Tuesday, Dec. 5. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be carried live on Texas State Bobcats All-Access.