DENTON – The UTSA women's basketball team picked its first conference win with a 57-54 victory over North Texas Saturday afternoon.
The Roadrunners improve to 6-9 overall and 1-2 in C-USA action, while North Texas falls to 3-1 in conference play.
UTSA started off strong in the first quarter scoring first off a layup from Marie Benson. The Mean Green went on a 6-0 run until two shots from Tija Hawkins tied the game a six. North Texas made two free throws until the Roadrunners took a 10-8 lead with 2:40 remaining. Both teams continued to find the basket with the quarter ending tied at 15.
North Texas scored four points early in the second until Marie Benson tied the game at 19 at the 7:51 mark. A 3-pointer from Karrington Donald increased the lead to 22-19. With 5:08 remaining, Kourtney Kekec made a layup to take the lead to seven. She followed with another layupa minute later as the Roadrunners led by nine. With just 37 second remaining, UTSA took the largest lead of the half with a 34-22 advantage going into halftime.
The Roadrunners continued to build on their lead in the third until UNT hit a 3-pointer at the 8:15 mark. UTSA continued to keep a substantial lead until the Mean Green closed the gap within eight with 1:42 remaining. The Roadrunners led 50-45 heading to the fourth.
Both teams found trouble finding the basket until the 4:16 mark, when UNT made a layup to bridge the gap to three. At the 2:24 mark, the game was tied until two free throws from Marie Benson helped the Roadrunners regain the lead and take the victory.
The Roadrunners return to action on Jan. 17 when they host Middle Tennessee. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.
-UTSA-
