SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA women's basketball team heads west for its fourth consecutive road game as the Roadrunners square off against San Diego on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. CT.
Game Overview
UTSA plays its 10th game of the 2017-2018 season with on Saturday. The contest will tip-off at 5 p.m. PT/ 7 p.m. CT at Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego. Saturday's contest will feature live audio on goUTSA.com with Stu Paul providing play-by-play. The game also will be streamed by the West Coast Conference's website. To watch click here.
Inside the series: San Diego leads 1-0
San Diego leads the series, 1-0, with the programs having only met once on Dec. 28, 2001, in San Diego, Calif. Under the direction of then-head coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair, the Roadrunners fell to the Toreros, 91-42.
Getting to know San Diego
San Diego is 6-4 on the season, including a 4-0 showing at home at Jenny Craig Pavilion this year. Most recently, the Toreros earned a huge 72-69 win over Minnesota (9-2) last Sunday afternoon inside the JCP, giving the Golden Gophers their second loss of the season. Sydney Williams had a career-high 25 points and hit two clutch three pointers down the stretch to help the Toreros hold off the Gophers' rally. The Toreros held a three-point lead with less than 20 seconds left and Minnesota got three straight shots off from behind the arc, but missed all of them as the Toreros snapped their three-game losing streak. Overall, San Diego currently has four players averaging double-digit points. Aubrey Ward-El is leading the team with 15 points per game while Williams, Maya Hood and Alexandra Hagen are all scoring between 10-13 points per game. The last time the Toreros had four players averaging at least 10 points was the 2013-14 season. Defensively, San Diego is first in the West Coast Conference in steals (92) and turnovers forced (18.5 per game).
Last time out
UTSA faced Texas State in San Marcos on Dec. 5, and the Birds were on the wrong end of a 91-38 decision against the Bobcats. The matchup saw seniors Carlie Heineman and Crystal Chidomere and sophomore Tija Hawkins pace UTSA's efforts for a third consecutive game. Heineman led UTSA with nine points, followed by Chidomere with seven and Hawkins with six. Defensively, the Birds received seven rebounds from Chidomere and five from Heineman and sophomore Marie Benson. Overall, Texas State outshot the Roadrunners (2-7) 52.4 percent to 23.4 percent and won the rebounding battle, 44-38. The Bobcats also outscored UTSA 24-16 in the paint and bested the Roadrunners 16-0 on the fast break.
Breaking out
Last year, sophomore Tija Hawkins averaged just five minutes per game last year and had just 20 career points entering the 2017-18 season. Now as a starting forward for the Roadrunners, she is second on the team with 28.4 minutes per game. The Killeen native is also second on the team with 50 rebounds and seven blocks this year. She is also fourth on the squad with 75 points.
December road trip
After hosting its annual Thanksgiving Classic, UTSA is currently on a five-game road swing that will keep them from the Convo until Dec. 29 when they challenge Texas A&M-Commerce. UTSA opened the road tour with a pair of games in the UTRGV Battle on the Border and a midweek matchup against Texas State in San Marcos. The Roadrunners will conclude the road stretch with a set of games in California. While in the Golden State, UTSA will play San Diego on Saturday, Dec. 16 and Cal State-Fullerton on Tuesday, Dec. 19.
Off the glass
Sophomore Marie Benson has tallied 67 (50 defensive/ 17 offensive) rebounds this year to top UTSA's defensive efforts. The forward's 50 defensive rebounds are the most by a Conference USA student-athlete this season and she ranks second among league players with an average of 10.3 rebounds per game. Overall, she owns four double-digit rebound performances this season against Sul Ross State (10), Arizona State (11), UT Arlington (12) and Northern Illinois (13).
3-for-3
For a third consecutive year, senior Carlie Heineman paces the Roadrunners in 3-pointers made (22 – second in C-USA), 3-pointers attempted (57) while rating second in 3-point field goal percentage (38.6). Helping her cause was burying six triples against North Dakota on Nov. 25 in the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic. As a junior Heineman led UTSA with 69 3-pointers last season. In her sophomore campaign, she made a squad-best 35, while she tallied 22 as a freshman which was good for fourth among the team.
New Faces
The Roadrunners have four newcomers this year in in freshmen Barbara Benson, Karrington Donald, Tasharian Robinson and junior-transfer Evelyn Omemmah. Pacing the newcomers are Donald and Robinson. The guards have combined for over 373 minutes on the court this season. Touching the court in all of UTSA's nine games this season, Donald currently averages 5.0 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. She has also second on the squad with 10 3-pointers. Playing in eight games with seven starts, Robinson averages 5.5 points per game, 2.3 rebounds, while having added 16 assists and five steals on the season.
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 – 34.0/Tija Hawkins – 28.4/Crystal Chidomere – 27.3/Tasharian Robinson – 26.3/Marie Benson – 25.7/Kourtney Kekec – 21.2/Karrington Donald – 18.1/Timea Toth – 17.2) 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.
Connect on social media
Fans are encouraged to connect with the Roadrunners on Facebook (UTSA Women's Basketball), Instagram (@UTSAWBBALL) and Twitter (@UTSAWBB). They are also encouraged to use #RunningWithExcellence and #BirdsUp in posts.
2018 C-USA Tournament hosted at The Star
UTSA won't have to travel far for the 2018 Conference USA Tournament that will be held in Frisco at the Ford Center at the Star, practice facility of the Dallas Cowboys. The championship tournament is scheduled for March 7-10 with all 22 games - 11 men's and 11 women's games at the Star.
