MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The UTSA women's basketball team fell to Conference USA leader Middle Tennessee, 80-41, in its first conference road game of the season on Thursday night at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
GAME LEADERS
Senior Queen Ulabo led the team in scoring with 14 points, just one shy of tying her career high. She also led the Roadrunners with seven rebounds and two steals. Splitting time at point guard, Sidney Love and Kyra White had a team-high two assists each. Maya Linton was tied with Ulabo for a team-high seven rebounds. The Roadrunners were outplayed in almost every category but held onto the rebound lead, outrebounding the Lady Raiders by 45 rebounds to 43 rebounds.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
Queen Ulabo opened up scoring in the game, sinking two straight layups to give UTSA an early 4-0 lead. This would be the biggest lead that UTSA had for the rest of the game. In a first quarter that saw three lead changes and three ties, the Lady Raiders and Roadrunners went back and forth during the period. A three-pointer by Ulabo with 3:23 on the clock tied it up, then a layup in the paint by Jordyn Jenkins with 1:35 left tied it up another time. After that Jenkins layup, Middle Tennessee went on a five-point scoring run. A jump shot by Love right before the buzzer cut UTSA's deficit to 19-16 after the first quarter.
A 13-point scoring run by Middle Tennessee, paired with a 7:56 scoring drought by UTSA, to start the second quarter gave the Lady Raiders a big advantage. The Roadrunners were not able to fight back much, only scoring six points in the second quarter, as the Lady Raiders took a 42-22 lead to the half.
UTSA tried to match Middle Tennessee in the third quarter as the Roadrunners scored 11 points to the Lady Raiders' 19 points. Jenkins led the team in the period with six points. UTSA was not able to keep up as the Roadrunners went to the final period down by 61-33 to Middle Tennessee.
The Lady Raiders put up another 19-point quarter in the final quarter, while the Roadrunners counted with eight points. White led UTSA with a three-pointer in the period. The Roadrunners were unable to keep up with the Lady Raiders as UTSA fell to conference powerhouse Middle Tennessee, 80-41.
UTSA's record falls to 3-9 (1-2 in C-USA action), while Middle Tennessee's record improves to 11-2 (4-0 in C-USA play).
UP NEXT: The Roadrunners conclude their first road trip of the conference season at Western Kentucky in Bowling Green, Ky., on Saturday. Tip-off against the Lady Toppers is set for 1 p.m. at E.A. Diddle Arena.
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