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Women's Basketball Team Celebrates Cinderella Season UTSA, picked in the preseason to finish 11th in the Southland Conference, has made one of the biggest turnarounds in college basketball this season. After a 7-20 season in 1999-2000, first-year coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair has resurrected the program to a 14-11 record with two regular season games left to play. The Roadrunners have clinched a spot in next week's CenturyTel Classic. UTSA, which is already assured of fourth place in the conference will host a first round game on Tuesday, March 6 in the Convocation Center. The semifinals and finals are March 8 and 10 in Bossier City, La. The winner of the classic receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament beginning March 15. Tickets to the classic are available at the UTSA ticket office during regular business hours. Tickets are $10 for reserved seats, $7 for adults and students with identification will be admitted free. UTSA is currently fourth in the SLC with a 12-6 conference record. The 12 wins is a school record for most league wins in a season since joining the SLC. "The ladies have worked very hard this season," Rippetoe-Blair said. "We are playing our best basketball right now. We don't have a lot of star players, but we do have a lot of girls working hard and we are starting to come together." The Roadrunners have been led by senior center Renda Churman, a host of junior transfers and a stifling defense ranked second in the nation. UTSA allows just 54.3 points per game, second only to Utah's 49.4 per game average. Churman has moved into the top 15 in all-time scoring and rebounding. The senior from Godley, Texas, has led the team in scoring 11 times this season, including a career-high 23 points at Sam Houston State on Feb. 22. "Renda has done everything we've asked of her this season," Rippetoe-Blair said. "We talked with her earlier this season and she has responded. She is our go-to player right now." Junior transfers Kate Fitzgerald, Julie Rampley, Amber Prose and Niki Foster have all started throughout the season for Blair's squad. Prose, Fitzgerald and Foster all came from Seward County (Kan.) College where their team was ranked No. 1 in the nation after a 33-1 campaign their sophomore season. Blair uses a deep bench that includes guards Jene Vanderbilt, Latifa Northern and Chelsea DeMarte, a candidate for the Verizon Academic All-American award. San Antonio natives Sarah Kendrick and Shadana Hurd, Katrina Dorsey, Marlees McCrory, Jacque Maddox and Sarah Brock round out the squad. All UTSA women's basketball games are broadcast on KLUP (AM 930) and on the Athletic's Web site. Send
your comments and items to: UTSAToday@utsa.edu.
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From
step sister to Cinderella, the 2001 UTSA women's basketball team is
ready to try the glass slipper for college basketball's "Big Dance."