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Women's Basketball

'Runners to visit SMU in Saturday afternoon showdown

The contest will tipoff at 2 p.m. inside the Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas

SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA women's basketball program will be back in action on Saturday as they visit SMU for an American Athletic Conference matchup at 2 p.m. inside the Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas 

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with John Liddle providing play-by-play alongside Brian Burton. Neal Raphael will deliver the radio call in the greater San Antonio area on The Bull 93.3 FM and worldwide on the iHeartRadio app

The Roadrunners (10-8, 4-3 The American) will look to bounce back against the Mustangs after narrowing falling to UAB last time out. 

Despite a senior Kyra White double-double, the Blazers worked a 54-53 comeback victory over UTSA. The senior from Converse, Texas, dropped 11 points and snagged 10 rebounds against UAB, with sophomore Sidney Love and freshman Idara Udo matching her scoring total. 

Freshman Aysia Proctor and redshirt junior Elyssa Coleman posted nearly identical stat lines as they flirted with double-doubles of their own, each scoring nine points to go with eight rebounds. 

In spite of the result, Proctor was awarded the AAC Freshman of the Week accolade, thanks largely to a 19-point eight-rebounds performance in the team's 65-42 win over South Florida earlier in the week. Across the games, she scored 14.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg while going 10-for-24 from the field. 

UTSA now leads the league in five different statistical categories, including blocks per game (5.2) and field goal percentage against (35.5%), both of which rank 16th nationally. The 'Runners sit fifth among the NCAA in rebounds per game (46.4), are ninth offensively (16.4), and 16th defensively (30.0). Additionally, a plus-10.7 rebound margin tops The American and is the 13th-best figure in the country. 

Individually, White has logged the second-most assists in the league with 90, and Coleman is second in blocks, swatting 30. White also ranks second in minutes per game, averaging 34.9 each time she steps on the floor. Sophomore Sidney Love rounds out the 'Runners near the top, ranking third with a free throw percentage of 81.0%. 

The Mustangs (9-10, 3-5 The American) snapped a three-game losing streak on Wednesday, narrowly edging past Temple, 68-66.

Behind North Texas, SMU ranks as one of the league's most efficient shooting teams, converting shots at a 43.3% clip, including a 33.9% mark from three-point range. 

Those figures are heavily aided by the impressive play of Tiara Young, who maintains a 47.2% field goal percentage and averages 18.6 ppg. Young also excels at getting to the charity stripe, shooting 135 free throw attempts on the season. 

Amirah Abdur-Rahim joins Young in the double-digit scoring club, scoring 10.5 ppg. She has also excelled defensively, logging 33 blocks, the most in the AAC, and is the squad's leader with 6.3 rpg. Tamia Jones also performs well for the Mustangs, swiping 2.1 steals per game.

Keep up with UTSA Women's Basketball all season long on goutsa.com and by following the program on Facebook at /UTSAWBB, X (Twitter) @UTSAWBB, and on Instagram @UTSA_WBB.

 

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