The Charlotte women's basketball team lost on the road against UTSA on Saturday. The Conference USA (C-USA) rivals found success at home 64-50.
Following the loss, Charlotte falls below .500 with a record of 7-8 and is now 3-3 in C-USA play. Despite a close first quarter, the roadrunners were able to run away with the game, as Charlotte was plagued with turnovers and early foul trouble.
"I thought we got off to an okay start; then we got into foul trouble. We were trying to scrap and claw to stay in the game," said Head Coach Cara Consuegra. "It's never an effort for us. It's about mental mistakes. We made several turnovers when we got several stops. We have to be able to close those margins to give ourselves a chance to get back in the game."
First quarter
The first saw even play all around as UTSA found a three-point lead heading into the second quarter.
Charlotte got on the board first with a bucket from Dazia Lawrence. Then, two back-to-back threes from Jacee Busick allowed Charlotte to take a three-point advantage. Charlotte increased their lead to 11-7 as Tamia Davis hit the third Charlotte triple of the game. However, this ended up being Charlotte's largest lead of the game, and UTSA ended the quarter with a 7-0 run to take the lead 14-11.
Second quarter
The second quarter ended up being the difference maker as Charlotte was outscored 20-9. Lawrence drained a field goal and let Charlotte cut UTSA's lead down to one point. However, UTSA ran away with the game from there.
UTSA went on a 6-0 run that was stopped by a Davis triple, and later a Lawrence fast break layup brought Charlotte within two 20-22. UTSA then scored 12 straight to end the half with a strong 34-20 lead.
Third quarter
Lawrence again started the scoring with a three-pointer to begin the third. Charlotte attacked the hoop in the rest of the quarter, as all their points came from the paint and the free throw line. However, UTSA's offense was too much to stop as they shot 43% from the field in the third and had the lead 51-35 at the end of the third.
Fourth quarter
Charlotte didn't give up in the final quarter, as they were able to score 15 points to UTSA's 13. Mya McGraw and Keanna Rembert both hit a layup, followed by a McMillian as Charlotte tried to cut the UTSA lead down to single digits. However, despite a late four-point Lawrence run and a Kameron Roach jumper, they could not. As a result, Charlotte lost the game by a final score of 64-50.
Takeaways
Charlotte was not able to play consistently throughout the game. Despite playing UTSA close in the first, third and fourth quarters, they were outscored 20-9 in the second quarter.
Early foul trouble was a problem for Charlotte as both McGraw and Rembert got subbed out in the fourth after picking up multiple fouls. Charlotte also had trouble protecting the ball as they ended the game with 18 turnovers, which UTSA turned into 18 points.
Despite the rough loss, Lawrence still led the 49ers in points with 13 and added three rebounds. McMillian trailed behind with seven points and five assists. Key three-pointers came throughout the game from Busick and Davis.
Up next
Charlotte will remain in the Lone Star state as they are set to take on C-USA opponent UTEP on Monday, Jan. 16, at 3 p.m. The game will be streaming on CUSA.tv.