SAN ANTONIO - Senior Crystal Chidomere guided a quartet of Roadrunners into double figures with her first double-double of the season (15 points/13 rebounds) to help the UTSA women's basketball team notch a 68-55 win against Mississippi Valley State in the opening contest of the UTRGV Battle on the Border on Friday afternoon.
Sophomore Tija Hawkins led the Roadrunners with 16 points, followed by Chidomere and senior Carlie Heineman with 15 points apiece while freshman Tasharian Robinson added 10.
Overall, the Roadrunners (2-5) connected on 37.9 percent (25 of 66) of their shots.
On the glass, UTSA was propelled by 13 rebounds from Chidomere, 12 from senior Billie Marlow and 11 from sophomore Timea Toth. As a team, the Roadrunners outrebounded the Devilettes, 58-41.
Mississippi Valley State took an early 4-0 lead over the first three minutes of the contest, but a three pointer from Heineman sparked a 7-0 run for the Roadrunners. After exchanging free throws, UTSA and the Devilettes tied the score twice before Heineman struck her second shot from the arc for a 14-11 Roadrunner lead. UTSA maintained offensive control to close out the quarter with a 22-16 edge.
Much like the first quarter, MVSU opened the second frame by controlling the tempo as the Devilettes took a 25-22 lead. UTSA battled to trim the deficit and knot the score at 25-all with a 3-pointer from Robinson. Heineman followed with her third bucket from beyond the arc, giving UTSA the lead. The Roadrunners finished the quarter shooting 75 percent from downtown to take a 37-31 advantage into the locker room.
UTSA came out firing to the start the second half, using seven points from Chidomere and 18 team rebounds to push its lead to 12 points by the end of the third stanza. The margin was 10 (47-37) midway through the quarter before Chidomere dished out a jumper and provided a steal to keep UTSA in possession. The Roadrunners received a big block from Hawkins at the 2:10 mark and five more points to close out the quarter.
MVSU never got closer than eight points the rest of the way, with the Birds continuing to take care of business with eight points in the paint, four points off turnovers and four second-chance points to close out the game.
The Roadrunners will have a very quick turnaround as they wrap up play at the Battle of the Border by squaring off against host UTRGV at 3 p.m. Saturday. Fans can stream the matchup with a subscription to the WAC Digital Network and listen to audio play-by-play from Stu Paul at goUTSA.com.
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