UTSA Survives Scare, Advances to Southland Tournament Finals
KATY, Texas ? The UTSA women’s basketball team defeated Northwestern State, 58-47, to advance to its second consecutive State Farm Southland Conference Tournament final Friday at the Merrell Center. The No. 2 Roadrunners will take on the winner of the second semifinal game between No. 1 UT Arlington and No. 4 Lamar. The 2009 championship game will be televised live on the Southland Conference Television Network at 2:05 p.m. on Saturday.
In a game dominated by run after run, it was the reigning tournament champions who had the final say. Though Northwestern State successfully completed a comeback bid that began midway through the first half to take its first and only lead of the game with 15:56 left in regulation, UTSA went on a run to build an advantage from which the injury-riddled Lady Demons could not recover from a second time.
After Brooke Shepherd drained a three-pointer for a 34-33 Lady Demons’ lead, UTSA, led by double-double performances from Ryba Pawlaczyk and Onika Anderson, went on a quick, 8-0 run and wound up doubling up Northwestern State for the remainder of the game.
Despite falling behind by as many as 19 points early on, the Lady Demons rebounded for an impressive run of their own to close out the first half down only 31-24. UTSA opened the game on a rampage, scoring the first 16 points before Lyndzee Green drove the lane for a layup and the Lady Demons’ first bucket 6:30 into the game. UTSA pushed its lead back to 19 points three possessions later when Anderson, who had 17 points at the break, sank a pair of free throws.
From that point on, Northwestern State, led by Shead’s team-high eight first-half points, outscored UTSA 20-8, including a 13-2 run that culminated with a Demetria White jumper, which cut the deficit to a first-half low 27-24.
Anderson led all players with 20 points and had a game-high 14 rebounds while Pawlaczyk netted 15 points and 12 boards and Monica Gibbs rallied back from a scoreless first half to finish with eight points and eight rebounds. Northwestern State also got a double-double from Shead, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while White, who was 8-of-8 from the free throw line, led all Lady Demons with 17 points, five assists and four steals.