SAN ANTONIO – Karrington Donald made a layup with .7 on the clock to take the lead as the Roadrunners defeated Louisiana Tech, 70-68 Saturday afternoon.
UTSA (7-18, 2-11 C-USA) broke its nine-game losing streak with the win over LA Tech (14-12, 6-7 C-USA) as it shot 41.3 percent from the field.
The first quarter stayed close between the two teams. Ryann Stearns hit a 3-pointer at the 7:40 mark to take the lead, 5-4. Tija Hawkins followed with a shot to increase the lead by three (7-4). The Lady Techsters tied the game at 7 from a free throw and a layup. The game was tied again at 9 from back-to-back shots by Kierra Anthony and Tija Hawkins. The Lady Techsters took a one-point lead (13-12) at the :52 mark and neither team scored until Anthony snuck in a layup with seven seconds remaining. Louisiana Tech led 15-12 going to the second.
A 3-pointer from Marie Benson tied the game at 15 in the second. The Roadrunners outscored the Lady Techsters 18-17 in the quarter, but the three-point advantage after the first helped LA Tech lead 32-30 at the half. Hawkins and Charlotte Ellmore each put up five points for UTSA.
In the third quarter, no one scored until the 8:29 mark when Anthony and Benson hit back-to-back shots. The Lady Techsters went on a two 6-0 runs to take a 46-34 lead with 4:25 remaining. Shots from Evelyn Ommemah and Timea Toth and a 3-pointer from Ellmore dropped the difference back to four, 42-46. LA Tech followed with a 3-pointer and three free throws to take the lead back to nine until four free throws from the Roadrunners decreased the lead to five. The Lady Techsters led 54-49 going to the fourth.
After being down by 11 points in the fourth quarter with 8:11 to go, UTSA came back to tie up the game at 64 with 2:30 remaining. The Roadrunners and the Louisiana Tech continued to battle it out, tying the game two more times until Donald hit the winning shot with barely any time on the clock.
The Roadrunners return to action Feb. 23 at UTEP. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT.
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