SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA women's basketball team ended 2022 on a high note, defeating UAB by 71-68 on the afternoon of New Years' Eve at the Convocation Center.
GAME LEADERS
Freshman Sidney Love broke out in her best game yet this season, scoring a team-high 23 points and contributing seven rebounds. Jordyn Jenkins was the other double-digit scorer in the game, notching 13 points. Kyra White led the team with 10 rebounds and nine assists. The Roadrunners took advantage of second-chance opportunities, scoring 26 points from them. The bench squad of Elyssa Coleman, Love, Maya Linton, Kyleigh McGuire and Siena Guttadauro exploded for 42 points against the Blazers.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
The Blazers scored first within the first thirty seconds of the game, but the Roadrunners didn't take long to answer as Queen Ulabo sunk a three-point basket just 16 seconds later. UTSA and UAB battled back and forth through the first quarter, which included four lead changes and three ties. The Blazers went on a four-point scoring run in the last minute and half. A jump shot by White cut UTSA's deficit to two points to make the score 19-17, in favor of UAB, at the end of the first period.
The second quarter started slow as neither team scored for the first two minutes. Similar to the first period, the game saw four more lead changes and three ties in the second period. Madison Cockrell opened up scoring and tied the game with a driving layup made with 7:52 on the clock. The game bounced back and forth until a jump shot by Love tied it up with 2:26 left in the quarter. Another scoring drought ensued to take the game tied at 29-29 to halftime.
The Blazers broke out in the third quarter, outscoring the Roadrunners by 24 points to 17 points. UTSA tied things up three times in the third period - Jenkins' layup with 9:33 on the clock, two free throws by Jenkins with 9:03 on the clock, and a free throw by Ulabo with 7:23 left. Besides that, UAB used a nine-point scoring run to take a 53-46 lead after three quarters of action.
Coming down to the final quarter, the Roadrunners entered the court with motivation to fight back and they did just that, outscoring the Blazers by 25 points to 15 points. UTSA excelled from beyond the arc as seven of their nine made field goals were three-pointers. Guttadauro and Love exploded for three three-pointers each in the final quarter. With nine seconds left on the clock, Jenkins put up a three point basket which landed to break a tie with UAB. As the Blazers had one more possession, a block by Love and rebound by Guttadauro secured the 71-68 win for UTSA.
UTSA's record improves to 3-8 (1-1 in C-USA action), while UAB's record falls to 8-4 (0-3 in C-USA play).
UP NEXT: The Roadrunners hit the road to open up the New Year, traveling to face conference leader Middle Tennessee on Jan. 5, 2023. Tip-off for the matchup is set for 6 p.m. (CT) at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
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