SAN ANTONIO – Senior guard
Rachel Arthur scored a game-high 15 points, but UTSA had five players in double figures and held HBU's leading scorer,
Anna Strickland, to two points in the Roadrunners' 79-50 victory over the Huskies Sunday afternoon on the final day of the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic.
Arthur paced HBU (2-3) on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor, 1-of-3 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-3 from the charity stripe.
Amanda Johnson came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points in just eight minutes, as she went 4-of-6 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from downtown. Despite being held to two points, Strickland continued her string of consecutive 10-plus rebound games to four games, as she pulled down a game high 12. As a team, the Huskies shot 31 percent from the floor.
Five Roadrunners (2-2) scored in double figures, led by 14 from Niaga Mitchell-Cole. Alexus Dukes and Carlie Heineman each scored 13, followed by Tesha Smith (11) and Akunna Elonu (10). Elonu led UTSA with nine rebounds. The Roadrunners shot 53 percent from the floor in the game.
HBU spotted UTSA an early 4-0 lead before scoring six unanswered. After a Smith jumper knotted the game at 6-all,
Meghan Shank's trey gave HBU a 9-6 advantage with just under five minutes left in the opening quarter.
UTSA battled back and the two teams exchanged leads. With HBU leading by one, 11-10, following a jumper by
Ekemini Essien, UTSA closed out the quarter on an 8-1 run to take a seven-point lead, 18-11.
The seven points were the closest HBU came the remainder of the half, as the Roadrunners outscored HBU, 21-10, in the second quarter, highlighted by a 7-0 run midway through the quarter.
Shank led HBU with seven first-half points, followed by Arthur's six. All 14 of Mitchell-Cole's points came in the opening half as she led all scorers. HBU shot 29 percent in the first half compared to 55 percent for UTSA.
UTSA increased their 18-point halftime lead by outscoring HBU, 21-7, in the third quarter. HBU continued to battle, opening the final quarter on an 8-0 run and forcing UTSA to take a timeout.
Johnson led HBU with 11 second-half points, while Arthur chipped in with nine. The Huskies shot 32 percent in the half. Heineman led UTSA with 11 points in the half, as the Roadrunners shot 52 percent from the floor.
Arthur earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team, as she averaged 15.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.
HBU returns home to face Trinity Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 5:30 p.m., in the opener of an HBU basketball doubleheader in Sharp Gym.
