A cookie, an allergic reaction and a hospital visit couldn’t stop UTSA guard Japhet Medor

Japhet Medor. UTSA men's basketball lost to UTEP 77-66 on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Battling through injuries and a recent bout with a chocolate cookie, UTSA point guard Japhet Medor says he thinks the Roadrunners are ready to play in a home game today against high-scoring Jordan “Jelly” Walker and the powerful UAB Blazers. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Sidetracked by a health scare and an unexpected trip to a Houston hospital Wednesday night, Japhet Medor returned to his hotel room and did what you’d expect from any college student.

He slept it off.

Japhet Medor. Louisiana Tech beat UTSA 66-55 in Conference USA men's basketball on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Guard Japhet Medor, UTSA’s leading scorer, confirmed in an interview Friday that he plans to return to play for the Roadrunners next season. It will be the program’s first year in the American Athletic Conference. – File photo by Joe Alexander

An allergic reaction to an apparent peanut butter-like substance in a chocolate cookie would not get the best of him. It would not deter the UTSA point guard from the business at hand.

Medor stated his case emphatically on Thursday night, playing a team-high 36 minutes and making a few clutch plays late in an 84-79 victory for the UTSA Roadrunners over the Rice Owls.

Powered by John Buggs III, Josh Farmer, Jacob Germany and Medor, the Roadrunners snapped a school-record 11-game losing streak and returned home to San Antonio with visions of another upset victory.

They’ll get that opportunity today when they host the UAB Blazers at 3 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

Medor, who has overcome a couple of ankle/foot injuries this season in addition to his bout with the cookie, reflected on it all as the Roadrunners prepared to face one of the best teams in Conference USA.

“It’s been a tough journey,” the Florida native said. “It hasn’t been the season that we all anticipated. It’s been an up and down road for us as a team. Just, being healthy as a team, has been tough. With my foot, when I was out, it just didn’t feel right.”

Medor sprained the foot in practice on Jan. 18, the day before UTSA hosted the nationally-ranked Florida Atlantic University Owls.

It was a crushing blow to the Roadrunners, to lose the engine of their offense at that time.

In the three games that Medor eventually sat out, UTSA fell to FAU and Florida International at home and North Texas on the road.

The Roadrunners weren’t close against the Owls, losing by 19. Against FIU and North Texas, they lost by five and four points, respectively.

Once during the stretch, Medor walked over to press row with the boot on his foot and talked briefly to a reporter, explaining that he could run in straight lines in practice but still had trouble moving from side to side.

Even when he returned to play in his first game on Jan. 28 against Louisiana Tech, he still wasn’t right, physically, and the Roadrunners lost again. Losses to Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and UTEP followed.

Against UTEP, though, Medor was feeling good again physically. He scored 20 points, which included 10 for 10 shooting at the free throw line, and he made four steals. His confidence was growing.

Then came the road trip to play at Rice. On the bus ride from San Antonio to Houston, he ate a meal, and he felt fine.

But when the team arrived at its hotel destination, he pulled out the cookie and smelled it, knowing that it wasn’t wise for him to ingest anything with peanut butter.

It smelled OK, so he ate it.

“I didn’t know (about the peanut butter),” he said. “(By) the third bite, I felt something was wrong. My lips started tingling. Like I was getting an allergic reaction, and I started throwing up.

“By the time I got upstairs, my face was swelling up. My nose (was congested, and) I couldn’t breathe … Within an hour of the time we got there, I was in the hospital.”

At the hospital, he felt more discomfort. Itchy eyes, the works. Pretty soon, it was under control, Medor said, as he took fluids and “everything got flushed out.”

“Day of the game, I felt perfectly fine,” Medor said.

Against Rice, Buggs led the team with a spirited performance.

Medor’s backcourt running mate scored 23 points. He hit five 3-point shots. Farmer and Germany were solid in their play off the bench, too. Farmer poured in 18 points and grabbed six rebounds. Germany contributed 16 and eight.

Medor, just 24 hours removed from his allergic reaction, produced 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. At the end, he made a critical play. With UTSA clinging to a three-point lead, Rice inbounded the ball and Medor got the steal.

On the other end, he knocked down both free throws with 12 seconds left, boosting the lead to five points. With a second remaining, Medor was at the line again, knocking down two for two.

“It felt good,” Medor said. “There was a lot of good that we’d done as a team (this season). We’d just have these two-minute (stretches) where we’d fall off. So, getting that win was big. It just uplifted everybody in the program.”

Now comes the hard part, trying to win back to back against the Jordan “Jelly” Walker-led Blazers, who average 82 points per game.

“We’re ready for tomorrow’s game,” Medor said. “Coming off the win at Rice, it’s a good feeling. We feel like the coaches got us prepared the right way. We just need to put the ball through the basket and get stops.”

Coming up

UAB Blazers at UTSA Roadrunners, Conference USA men’s basketball, today, 3 p.m.

Records

UAB 19-8, 10-6
UTSA 8-19, 2-14

Triple the fun: Barry’s walk off wins it for UTSA in season opener

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The feeling never gets old for UTSA’s Leyton Barry.

A year ago, he smashed a single to left field that scored the winning run on the last play of a 6-5, 10-inning victory over the Stanford Cardinal.

Jubilant teammates chased him into the outfield in celebration of a win over the No. 2 team in the nation.

Luke Malone. UTSA baseball won its season opener when Leyton Barry's two-run double in the bottom of the ninth gave the Roadrunners a 3-2 victory over Tarleton State at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Luke Malone started and pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits. He walked one and struck out five.- Photo by Joe Alexander

Fast forward 12 months to a cold Friday night at Roadrunner Field, and the dramatics unfolded in much the same fashion.

After fouling off five straight pitches, Barry crushed a fastball into the gap in right field for a triple, scoring two runs and lifting UTSA to a 3-2, season-opening victory over the Tarleton State Texans.

Once again, the Roadrunners streamed out of the dugout and mobbed their man in shallow left field as the fight song played on the public address.

“It was a fastball, basically right down the middle,” Barry said. “Typically, when you foul off so many pitches in a row, at least what you hope as a hitter, if you keep doing your job and keep fighting up there, you’ll get rewarded for it eventually.”

UTSA had to scramble to secure the win from Tarleton, a baseball program in only its third year in NCAA Division I.

The Roadrunners scored in the third inning, bringing in a run from third base on a ground ball to the right side.

It would be the only run for either team entering the ninth, which made it seem like a great opportunity for UTSA to win in a 1-0 shutout. Tarleton, however, had other ideas.

Garrett Poston. UTSA baseball won its season opener when Leyton Barry's two-run double in the bottom of the ninth gave the Roadrunners a 3-2 victory over Tarleton State at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Garrett Poston scored in the third inning after reaching on a walk. It was the only run of the game until the ninth inning. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The Texans produced three, one-out singles off Simon Miller in the top of the ninth to load the bases, bringing Trace Morrison to the plate.

After Morrison grounded a ball toward Barry, the UTSA second baseman, he flipped to shortstop Matt King covering the bag for the force out.

Subsequently, King’s relay skipped past first base for a throwing error, allowing the second run to score on the play and giving the Texans a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Tarleton sent reliever Jake Burcham to the mound. Burcham, from San Antonio’s Reagan High School, faced his first opponent in UTSA’s Garrett Poston and struck him out looking.

At that point, Burcham started to lose his touch, issuing back-to-back, six-pitch walks to Shane Sirdashney and Taylor Smith. With Barry at the plate, the tension mounted.

“I was thinking, try and fight,” Barry said. “I know they brought in arguably their best pitcher for the last inning, so I knew it was going to be tough, especially when I got to two strikes.

“I just thought, I’m going to have to fight every pitch and remain calm.

Antonio Valdez. UTSA baseball won its season opener when Leyton Barry's two-run double in the bottom of the ninth gave the Roadrunners a 3-2 victory over Tarleton State at Roadrunner Field. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Antonio Valdez started at third base for the Roadrunners and produced three infield assists. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“You know, a lot of guys will maybe tense up in that moment. So, I just tried to remain calm and see the ball well, and it worked out in the end.”

With the count at three balls and one strike, Barry started his foul-ball spree. On the first one, he lofted it high over the net and slightly to the left. The next four, he sprayed them off to the side.

Next came a fastball down the middle, which Barry ripped into the gap in right field.

Initially, it appeared as if right fielder Kooper Shook might run down the ball and make a spectacular catch. But as he sprinted into the gap, the drive started to sink like a backhand with top spin in a tennis match.

Shook didn’t have a chance to get a glove on it, and the game was over.

UTSA coach Pat Hallmark lauded Barry’s clutch hitting, calling it “terrific.”

“He had three or four fouls balls prior to the base hit, but he’s done it before,” Hallmark said. “He did it in the Stanford game. He hit .340 (in batting average) the last two years. Hitting is difficult. You’re never going to produce every time. But I’m not surprised (at Barry). He’s been a producer now going on three years.

“It’s fun to watch. It’s fun to be a part of.”

Pitchers ruled in the opener between the Roadrunners of Conference USA and the Texans of the Western Athletic Conference.

Luke Malone, UTSA’s top starter from a year ago, worked six scoreless innings and allowed only two hits. He walked one and struck out five.

In earning the victory, Miller struck out seven in three innings. He allowed three hits and two runs, only one of which was earned.

For Tarleton, starter Will Stevens worked four frames, throwing pitches that topped out on one radar gun at 101 mph.

Beset with wildness, he walked seven, but he also displayed great stuff and fanned five.

Texans reliever Piercen McElyea also was tough, allowing only two hits while striking out six in four innings. Pitching the ninth and getting only one man out, Burcham took the loss.

Malone set the tone early for UTSA by mixing a fastball and a breaking pitch that he seemed comfortable in throwing on any count.

“Honestly, what a better way to open up the season,” Malone said. “Hell of a pitchers’ duel, awesome defense throughout the game and some timely hitting and great base running.

“What a great way to start the season off.”

Coming up

Tarleton State at UTSA, Saturday, 2 p.m.
Tarleton State at UTSA, Sunday, 1 p.m.

Malone gets opening-day start for UTSA against Tarleton State

UTSA pitcher Luke Malone got the win against Florida International on Friday, April 22, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

Pitcher Luke Malone is expected to take the mound tonight in the season-opener for the UTSA Roadrunners, who will host the Tarleton State Texans in the opener of a three-game series. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Temperatures that could dip into the 30s are expected for the UTSA baseball team’s season opener tonight against the Tarleton State Texans at Roadrunner Field.

Senior righthander Luke Malone is expected to start for the Roadrunners against the Texans’ hard-throwing righty, Will Stevens, with first pitch set for at 6 p.m.

UTSA, of Conference USA, and Tarleton, a third-year Division I program in the Western Athletic Conference, will play again Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.

“Everybody’s ready to go,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said in an interview on Thursday afternoon after his team’s final preseason practice.

Hallmark said he is unsure of his batting order, though it could be first baseman Garrett Poston leading off, followed by Shane Sirdashney in center field, Leyton Barry at second base and Taylor Smith at designated hitter.

After that, in an order to be determined, fans could see shortstop Matt King, catcher Josh Killeen and third baseman Antonio Valdez among those in the fifth through ninth spots.

The remaining two presumably would be between several players vying for corner outfield positions, including Garrett Brooks, Tye Odom, Isaiah Walker, Caleb Hill and Dalton Porter.

Regardless of the batters in UTSA’s opening-day lineup, they are expected to be challenged by Stevens, a transfer from Wichita State.

Hallmark said he had the pitching machine at Thursday’s practice cranked up to get his players ready for 100-mph fastballs.

The coach expressed cautious optimism about what to expect from his team on opening weekend.

“I think everyone thinks they’re ready until somebody exposes you a little bit,” Hallmark said. “I’ve been around long enough to know, we’ll find a little bit out about ourselves … There’ll be some good and some bad. Hopefully it’ll be a lot more good.”

UTSA will play eight home games over the next 10 days, so fans will likely see much of the Roadrunners’ pitching arsenal. Newcomer Robbie Maldonado is expected to start Saturday and Ulises Quiroga on Sunday.

The back end of the bullpen is one of the team’s strengths, highlighted by Simon Miller and Daniel Shafer.

UTSA had four players named to the preseason all Conference USA squad, led by Barry, a .349 hitter last year, Malone, Miller and Shafer. Malone led UTSA with a 9-3 record and a 2.67 earned run average.

“I expect we’ll throw strikes,” Hallmark said. “I’d be surprised if we don’t throw strikes. Again, I might be surprised. But we got some pitchers back from last year. Some of them (are) proven strike throwers … We played all fall and for the last five weeks, and we’ve been throwing strikes — at least, the guys that you’re going to see initially.”

Pitching rotations

According to the Tarleton State athletics website, here are the starters (with the Texans listed first) matched against the Roadrunners, whose starter were announced Thursday by UTSA coach Pat Hallmark.

Friday: RHP Will Stevens vs. RHP Luke Malone
Saturday: LHP Dylan Delvecchio vs. LHP Robbie Maldonado
Sunday: RHP Hunter Day vs. RHP Ulises Quiroga

Notable

This year’s Roadrunners have a tough act to follow. Last year, they dazzled UTSA fans with one of the better seasons in school history. They went 38-20 and reached the championship game of the Conference USA tournament. Though they failed to make the NCAA tournament, they won 11 games against ranked teams and finished a program-best 37th in the RPI.

UTSA women beat Rice, 66-53, as Jenkins scores 25 points

UTSA beat Rice 66-53 in Conference USA women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

The UTSA Roadrunners throttled the Rice Owls behind Jordyn Jenkins, who dominated with her eighth double double of the season. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Junior forward Jordyn Jenkins rolled to another dominant performance, producing 25 points, 11 rebounds and four assists Thursday night as the 10th-place UTSA Roadrunners surprised the Rice Owls, 66-53, in Conference USA women’s basketball.

With her showing against the C-USA’s fourth-place team, Jenkins continued to blossom in her first season at UTSA. For the 6-foot Southern Cal transfer, it was her 13th game of 20 or more points and her eighth double double.

Sidney Love. UTSA beat Rice 66-53 in Conference USA women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Freshman Sidney Love returned to the lineup and led UTSA in scoring off the bench with 13 points. – Photo by Joe Alexander

As a team, fast-improving UTSA showed that it might not belong near the bottom of the C-USA standings, in second-to-last place.

Since Jan. 28, the Roadrunners have notched victories against Louisiana Tech on the road, and at home against both the C-USA-leading Middle Tennessee State Lady Raiders and now against the Owls.

“My first thought is, we just need to play at home, and just skip going on the road,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “It makes a huge difference for our team, for some reason. I mean, I understand their comfort at home, in front of the fans, and just the energy.

“The camaraderie has been really good at home. I mean, I’ve been so proud of how we played.”

Rice entered the game at the UTSA Convocation Center in fourth place in the conference, having won two straight and four of five. Leaving San Antonio, the Owls were shaking their heads, limited to a season-low total in points and to 34.7 percent shooting.

In addition, the Roadrunners also punished the Owls on the glass, winning the rebounding battle, 45-23. UTSA outboarded Rice on the offensive glass, 19-7.

The Roadrunners started fast, playing solid defense and rebounding with aggression. They led 18-1 after the first seven minutes. Rice, one of the highest-scoring teams in the state of Texas, didn’t make a field goal until 2:50 remained in the first quarter on a drive by Destiny Jackson.

Maya Linton. UTSA beat Rice 66-53 in Conference USA women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Freshman Maya Linton tied a season-high with seven rebounds, including three on the offensive glass. She also contributed six points and two steals. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Early in the second quarter, the Roadrunners hiked the lead to as many as 20 twice, before foul trouble started to limit them offensively and defensively. The Owls kept chipping away and finally put on a charge in the fourth quarter, pulling to within five with seven minutes remaining.

At that juncture, Jenkins scored four points in an 8-0 run that effectively put the game away. Deb Nwakamma and Sidney Love also scored baskets in the streak.

After that, UTSA held a double-figure lead for the final five minutes and ended up celebrating a win over a team that had won 17 games and had been averaging 73.1 points. Rice, in fact, had eclipsed 90 points once and had surpassed 80 five other times.

Their previous scoring low? On Jan. 11, Rice was throttled by nationally-ranked Middle Tennessee, 85-56.

“We beat a very good team tonight,” Aston said. “That team is very good offensively. I thought we executed a lot of the game plan. We probably didn’t plan on playing as much man (defense) as we did tonight. But they played a lot of shooters most of the night. Offensively, we did some things with a lot of poise tonight.”

At least a portion of the Roadrunners’ narrative against the Owls had to do with the return of Love, and how she and another fellow freshman — forward Maya Linton — played so well and with so much poise off the bench.

Karen Aston. UTSA beat Rice 66-53 in Conference USA women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Coach Karen Aston notched her 299th career victory as her team held Rice 20 points below its season average. – Photo by Joe Alexander

After sitting out the last three games for undisclosed reasons, Love scored 13 points in 28 minutes. She hit five of 10 shots from the field in her first game action since the victory over LA Tech on Jan. 28

In addition, Linton had six points, seven rebounds and two steals in 21 minutes. Starting guard Kyra White also played well, notching eight points, six rebounds and five assists.

Another topic of discussion centered on Aston, who won her 299th career game. She is 299-186 in 15 seasons. The coach will try to get the milestone 300th on Saturday afternoon in Alabama when the Roadrunners take on the UAB Blazers.

Rice senior forward Ashlee Austin led the Owls with 17 points and three, 3-point baskets. Jackson scored 13 and Katelyn Crosthwait had 12. It was Crosthwait who scored 23 points on seven 3-pointers in a 78-76 victory over UTSA on Jan. 16.

Records

UTSA 7-17, 5-10
Rice 17-7, 8-7

Deborah Nwakamma. UTSA beat Rice 66-53 in Conference USA women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Five-foot-eight inch Deborah Nwakamma battled for a season-high seven rebounds as UTSA beat Rice on the boards, 45-23. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Coming up

UTSA at UAB, Saturday, 1 p.m.
UTSA at North Texas, Monday, 6:30 p.m.
Florida Atlantic at UTSA, Feb. 23, 7 p.m.
Florida International at UTSA, Feb. 25, noon
UTSA at Charlotte, March 2, 5 p.m.

First half

Rebounding and defending with a fervor, UTSA played one of its best stretches of the season in the first half, running off to a 17-point lead after the opening quarter and boosting it to as many as 20 early in the second period.

From there, the Owls took advantage of Roadrunners’ foul trouble to climb back into contention. At one point, with UTSA’s Jordyn Jenkins, Elyssa Coleman and Kyra White all on the bench, Rice scored 10 straight points.

UTSA responded to get the last bucket of the half on a Sidney Love drive. As a result, the Roadrunners took a 34-22 lead at intermission. UTSA completely controlled the boards in the opening two quarters with a 28-10 advantage.

Jenkins led UTSA in scoring at the half with 15, while Love had eight and Maya Linton five. In rebounding, Deb Nwakamma had six boards, Linton five and Jenkins four.

Ashlee Austin led the Owls with 11 points. Other Rice shooters were far off the mark, as evidenced by 24 percent shooting from the field as a team.

Notable

UTSA athletics hosted its first Pride Night, which included giveaways to fans and also recognition of various groups, including the San Antonio Pride Committee, the LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Governors of Human Rights Campaign Board and Pride San Antonio.

UTSA celebrates after beating Rice 66-53 in Conference USA women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Kyra White (No. 22) celebrates with her teammates after beating Rice 66-53 in Conference USA women’s basketball. With the victory, the Roadrunners avenged a 78-76 loss to the Owls on Jan. 16 in Houston. – Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA women host Rice tonight to open a busy five-day stretch

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA women’s basketball team will open a critical late-season stretch of three games in five days starting Thursday night at home against the Rice Owls.

Karen Aston. UTSA women's basketball beat No. 21 Middle Tennessee 58-53 on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Karen Aston’s UTSA Roadrunners hope to build on the success of their last home game, a five-point victory over Middle Tennessee State, the No. 1 team in Conference USA. – File photo by Joe Alexander

After tonight, the Roadrunners will hit the road for two, one on Saturday in Alabama against the UAB Blazers and another on Monday in Denton against the North Texas Mean Green.

In facing the Owls, the Roadrunners will try to make amends for a game that they let get away from them on Jan. 16 in Houston.

UTSA built an eight-point lead after the first quarter and led by as many as 10 before Rice, now in fourth place in Conference USA, engineered a second-half rally to win, 78-76.

The Roadrunners, sitting in 10th place in the 11-team standings, have been and up-and-down team lately.

Against the Owls, they’ll try to keep alive a sense that they are making steady progress and can present a danger to any team that comes into their home arena at the Convocation Center.

In their last game at home, all C-USA candidate Jordyn Jenkins and the Roadrunners knocked off the first-place Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders, 58-53.

Jenkins, a 6-foot junior, had 20 points and 16 rebounds on Feb. 4 as UTSA registered an upset victory over Middle Tennessee — the No. 21-ranked team in the nation at the time.

The Lady Raiders, who are trying to nail down the No. 1 seed in the C-USA tournament with a little more than two weeks remaining on the schedule, became the highest-ranked upset victim by a Roadrunners’ women’s basketball team in 42 years.

UTSA, coming off the signature victory, had a week after the game to prepare for its next outing and couldn’t capitalize.

In a game played at El Paso last Saturday, the Roadrunners stayed close against the UTEP Miners, trailing by three at halftime. Subsequently, UTEP blew it open, outscoring UTSA 29-7 in the third quarter en route to a 79-52 victory.

Given that the Rice game is the first of three in less than a week for UTSA, it’s importance is magnified, in the sense that only six games remain in the regular season.

After the season, all 11 teams — women and men — will gather in Frisco for the C-USA’s annual postseason event, which is set for March 8-11 at The Star. The winners will earn automatic bids to their respective NCAA tournaments.

The top five teams in the C-USA standings will have an advantage in that they will have a first-round bye, meaning that they will only need to win three games in three days to secure the postseason crown and the coveted NCAA berth.

The others, seeded six through 11, will need to win four games in four days. All that is why the game tonight is critical for Rice, currently in fourth place in the C-USA, with a one-game lead on Louisiana Tech and Charlotte.

Though UTSA isn’t out of contention for one of the top five spots, it would likely need win most — if not all — of its final six games to get one.

Records

Rice 17-6, 8-6
UTSA 6-17, 4-10

Coming up

Rice at UTSA, Thursday, 7 p.m.
UTSA at UAB, Saturday, 1 p.m.
UTSA at North Texas, Monday, 6:30 p.m.
Florida Atlantic at UTSA, Feb. 23, 7 p.m.
Florida International at UTSA, Feb. 25, noon
UTSA at Charlotte, March 2, 5 p.m.

Notable

Tonight, UTSA athletics is hosting its first Pride Night, which will include special giveaways to fans and also recognition of various groups, including the San Antonio Pride Committee, the LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Governors of Human Rights Campaign Board and Pride San Antonio.

UTEP wins 77-66, extends UTSA’s losing streak to 11 games

Japhet Medor. UTSA men's basketball lost to UTEP 77-66 on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Japhet Medor scored a team-high 20 points for the Roadrunners, who fell to the UTEP Miners 77-66 for their 11th straight loss. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

With the UTSA Roadrunners moving to the American Athletic Conference next season and the UTEP Miners staying in Conference USA, a possibility loomed that Saturday’s men’s basketball matchup between the in-state rivals might be the last one for awhile.

If it was, the Miners seized bragging rights with a strong second half and a 77-66 C-USA road victory at the Convocation Center. In doing so, UTEP ended one losing streak (its own, of four games) and extended another (UTSA’s, now 11 games.)

UTEP's Ze'Rik Onyema, who played at Jay High School in San Antonio, at the Miners' game against UTSA at the Convocation Center on Feb. 11, 2023. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Center Ze’Rik Onyema returned to San Antonio where he played in high school at John Jay and contributed 10 points and nine rebounds for the UTEP Miners. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The Miners took control midway through the second half on the strength of a run powered by reserve forward Jon Dos Anjos.

The 6-foot-8 Brazilian hit two long three-pointers and added a dunk after his own offensive rebound — all in a span of 67 seconds.

After Dos Anjos retrieved a missed free throw and threw down an emphatic jam, the Miners increased their lead to 11 with 9:23 remaining.

The Roadrunners, who haven’t won since Jan. 5, seemed deflated after the play. They never were able to pull any closer than nine the rest of the way.

A check of the record books indicated that UTEP has won five in a row against UTSA and leads the series 16-10, including 2-0 this year.

Will the two teams play on, even after they go their own separate ways in conference affiliation? UTEP coach Joe Golding said he’d “definitely” be open to keeping the rivalry alive.

“We’re disappointed that you guys are leaving,” Golding said. “But I think there are some good rivalries here (in the C-USA). Obviously this is one that’s really important. It’s been played for a long time, so, maybe it’s something (UTSA coach) Steve (Henson) and I could talk about after the year.

Jacob Germany. UTSA men's basketball lost to UTEP 77-66 on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA center Jacob Germany hit six of 10 shots from the field and scored 14 points for the Roadrunners. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“Obviously, it makes sense. It’s easy to get here. It’s an hour and ten minute flight. I think it’d be good to keep it going.”

Curiously, Dos Anjos seemingly has been able to cast a spell over the Roadrunners, and he’s done it twice this year.

On Jan. 11 in El Paso, the transfer from Florida Southwestern College came off the bench to score 10 points in 12 minutes of a 69-57 victory over UTSA. On Saturday afternoon, he scored 12 points in 19 minutes.

“He hasn’t showed up any other time of the year, man,” Golding said. “But he did it at our place (against the Roadrunners) and he did it again tonight.”

Early in the game, UTSA players seemed out of sorts, like they weren’t quite ready for the physical struggle that awaited them.

Throwing some soft passes, the Roadrunners had eight turnovers in the opening minutes. After that, UTEP dominated on the glass and continued the assault for 40 minutes. The Miners finished with a 44-24 edge in rebounds, including 16-2 on the offensive end.

Henson, seated in the UTSA interview room afterward, glanced at a box score and said that taking care of possessions and competing for rebounds were two areas that had been disccussed in practice as keys to winning the game.

Steve Henson. UTSA men's basketball lost to UTEP 77-66 on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA coach Steve Henson (second from left) lamented in postgame interviews his team’s lack of success on the boards. The UTEP Miners outrebounded the Roadrunners, 44-24, including 16-2 on the offensive glass – Photo by Joe Alexander

“The turnovers, disappointed with those, but more so with the rebounding,” Henson said. “That’s just absolutely focus and effort. It just wasn’t good enough. They got way too many offensive rebounds. We didn’t get nearly enough.”

Almost as surprising as UTEP’s wide margin in controlling the boards was its slight edge in three-point shooting.

The Miners, who make about 28 percent of their shots behind the arc, hit eight of 19 threes for 42 percent. On the flip side, it’s mystifying how the Roadrunners can make only six of 22, for 27 percent, on a home court where they practiced four times earlier this week.

Some of UTSA’s deficiency in that area may stem from its own lack of offensive rebounding, which tends to lend itself to quick pitchouts for open shots. Henson credited UTSA’s long-distance shooting woes to UTEP’s defensive style.

“I think part of it is, they just do a good job of chasing guys off the line,” Henson said. “They force your hand a little bit. If you do get some penetration, they’re going to come over and help. They do skip it out and chase you off the three-point line.”

Historically, it’s just been a bad stretch for the Roadrunners.

The losing streak started on Jan. 7 with a 10-point home loss to Western Kentucky. It continued through last week, with a seven-point setback to the same WKU team on Feb. 2 and then a 24-point loss Feb. 4 at Middle Tennessee State.

Isaiah Addo-Ankrah. UTSA men's basketball lost to UTEP 77-66 on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Isaiah Addo-Ankrah scored nine points off the bench for the Roadrunners. He hit three of six on 3-pointers on a night when the team made only six of 22. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Now the streak stands at 11, two more than the previous record nine-game skid that the team suffered near the end of the 2015-16 season.

“We needed this one bad,” Henson said. “Guys have done a pretty good job of hanging in there. It’ll be a tough bounce back here on Monday, and now (we’ll have to) see how our guys respond.

“Losing wears on a team,” the coach continued. “We’ve talked about it a lot (that) this is maybe the group with the most character and leadership that I’ve ever been around. But still, it’s just, like, continuing to get beat down.

“It’s going to be hard to keep this group pumped up without getting that win at some point.”

With the talent on the Roadrunners, it’s apparent nearly four months into the season that room for error is ever-so-slim, and a strong, focused effort is required every night.

“This game spells it out,” Henson said. “It was an effort battle here. Yeah, we didn’t shoot it well. That’s fair. That’s frustrating, when we got our good shooters not shooting it well.

“But we can’t get out-rebounded like that. We can’t turn the ball over like that. It’s just putting yourselves in an impossible situation … giving them so many more shots at the basket, just because they’re rebounding it.”

Christian Tucker. UTSA men's basketball lost to UTEP 77-66 on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA guard Christian Tucker played hard on both ends of the floor and finished with 11 points and three assists. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Records

UTEP 12-13, 5-9
UTSA 7-19, 1-14

Coming up

UTSA at Rice, Feb. 16, 7 p.m.
UAB at UTSA, Feb. 18, 3 p.m.

Individuals

UTEP — Tae Hardy, 12 points and five assists. Jon Dos Anjos, 12 points, five rebounds. Malik Zachery, 11 points on four of five shooting. Ze’rik Onyema, 10 points and nine rebounds. On three of five shooting. Otis Frazier III, 10 points. Calvin Solomon, eight points, eight rebounds, three on offensive glass.

UTSA — Japhet Medor, 20 points, four assists. Also, five for seven from the field and 10 for 10 at the free throw line. Jacob Germany, 14 points, seven rebounds. Christian Tucker, 11 points, three assists, two rebounds.

UTEP men's basketball coach Joe Golding at the Miners' game against UTSA at the Convocation Center on Feb. 11, 2023. - Photo by Joe Alexander

With UTSA set to switch to the American Athletic Conference next year, and with UTEP staying in Conference USA, the schools will need to reach an agreement to keep playing. UTEP coach Joe Golding said he’s ‘definitely’ interested in talking about it after the season. — Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Carlton Linguard will have two seasons to play, starting in 2023-24

UTSA men's basketball player Carlton Linguard Jr. at the Convocation Center on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA center Carlton Linguard, Jr., won’t play for the Roadrunners this season but will have two years of eligibility remaining starting in 2023-24. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Seven-foot center Carlton Linguard Jr. and UTSA have elected to suspend pursuit of an NCAA waiver that would have allowed him to play in the second half of this season.

“It just got to the point that he really wants a full season, two full seasons,” UTSA coach Steve Henson said Friday. “It was just taking too long. It was going to count as a year whether he played 10 games, or 16 games. So we just made a decision to save it.”

Linguard, formerly of San Antonio’s Stevens High School, arrived at UTSA last summer academically ineligible after playing previously at Kansas State. Initially, he was ineligible to be on scholarship.

At the semester break, UTSA was able to give him the scholarship but still didn’t have the OK to play him.

Eventually, UTSA elected to suspend pursuit of the appeal. With the decision, it means that Linguard is expected to have two years of eligibility remaining to play for the Roadrunners, for both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.

“It’s good for the future,” Henson said. “Sure would like to have him (Saturday) at 3 o’clock.”

UTSA hosts the UTEP Miners Saturday at 3 p.m.

Henson said Linguard is feeling good physically after rehabilitating a knee injury last fall and working his way back from a concussion after the New Year.

“It’s good for him,” Henson said. “He doesn’t have any issues with his knee and (hasn’t) in weeks and weeks and weeks. The concussion stuff is behind him now. I told him the other day, ‘Let’s start treating this like the preseason.

“He’s got some good leadership qualities in addition to his presence on the court. Just need to start picturing himself as being a big key to what we’re doing, even though he’s not playing yet.”

Coming up

UTEP at UTSA, Saturday, at 3 p.m.

Records

UTEP 11-12, 4-8
UTSA 7-18, 1-13

Notable

UTSA has lost 10 in a row, the longest losing streak in school history. The Roadrunners lost twice last week, at Western Kentucky and at Middle Tennessee. WKU beat UTSA 81-74. Middle Tennessee won the battle of the boards, forced 21 turnovers, and won, 84-60. Previously, the longest losing streak in program history was nine. UTSA dropped nine straight near the end of the 2015-16 season.

NCAA tournament snub still haunts UTSA’s Pat Hallmark

Pat Hallmark. UTSA beat Marshall 5-4 on Sunday, May 8, 2022, at Roadrunner Field. - photo by Joe Alexander

Buoyed by a deep and talented pitching staff, the UTSA Roadrunners will open their season at home a week from today against the Tarleton State Texans. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

A week from today, when the afternoon sun dips below the top of the old oak trees ringing the south and west ends of modest Roadrunner Field, daylight will turn to dusk.

UTSA baseball players will run out to take their positions under the lights.

Given that UTSA’s athletes will be taking the field to start a new season, a wide range of emotions will surge as they prepare to host the Tarleton State Texans in the opener of a three-game series.

One of the most powerful of those emotions for Roadrunners head coach Pat Hallmark will revolve around pride, and the legacy of former players who gave so much of themselves in years past.

Especially the players from last year who have moved on in their respective lives. Jonathan Tapia, Ian Bailey, Chase Keng and Ryan Flores come to mind, in particular.

All of them formed the heart of a team that forged one of the greatest seasons in school history, only to come up agonizingly short of an NCAA tournament bid.

The Roadrunners won 38 games, one off of the school record.

They posted an 11-4 record against ranked opponents, including wins on consecutive days last May on the home field of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in the Conference USA tournament.

In the C-USA tourney final, the Roadrunners lost by one run to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, who with the 9-8 victory claimed the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAAs.

On the trip home to San Antonio, the Roadrunners still felt good about their chances of playing in a regional.

They felt that their standing in the ratings percentage index — 37th, bolstered by wins over Stanford, Southern Miss and Texas State — would be sufficient to claim an at-large bid into the 64-team, NCAA field.

As everyone knows by now, the record wasn’t good enough, and the Roadrunners were left out.

Nine months later, it’s clear that the snub still bothers Hallmark. Not so much for his own personal pride, but rather what it meant for the departing seniors, especially Tapia, Bailey, Keng and Flores, who each drove in 50-plus runs in the 58-game season.

“When I think about those four, it still chokes me up a little bit,” Hallmark said Thursday afternoon.

All emotions aside, the Roadrunners will get a chance to run it back, starting a week from today.

Gone are the likes of Tapia, Keng, Bailey and Flores. Returning are four players — infielder Leyton Barry, plus pitchers Luke Malone, Daniel Shafer and Simon Miller — who have been named to the preseason, all C-USA team.

Though the offense may not have the same home-run punch as last year, the Roadrunners are expected to score runs, as Hallmark’s teams always do. Maybe not with with the long ball, so much as with a combination of situational finesse, speed, gap hitting and guile.

The defense, truthfully, probably has some questions. But it should be strong up the middle, where it really counts. And the pitching? Well, the pitching is the primary reason that UTSA has been picked for fifth in the C-USA.

“The (preseason) all-conference team consisted of six pitchers, throughout the league, and we had three of them,” Hallmark said. “So that was nice. I haven’t been a part of that since my days (as an assistant) at Rice (University) when we were going to Omaha (for the College World Series).

“So it was really nice to see, and they deserved it.”

An examination of the UTSA roster and statistics package indicates that 13 pitchers on this year’s team have made at least 10 appearances on the mound in their UTSA careers.

Malone, who posted a 9-3 record with a 2.67 earned run average last season, is expected to lead the weekend starting rotation. He has plenty of experience and can pitch as a starter or as an all-purpose, crunch-time reliever.

Notably, he worked nine innings of relief to beat FAU in last year’s tournament opener.

Shafer (3-1, 3.29) and Miller (4-3, 3.25) are strikeout artists who are expected to pitch in high leverage/late-game situations. Both can load up and throw hard, as evidenced by strikeout numbers that are greater than innings pitched a year ago.

Starting pitchers early in the season are expected to include Malone and Ulises Quiroga, plus newcomers Ruger Riojas and Robbie Maldonado.

Riojas, from Wimberley, is a freshman. Maldonado, who transferred in from Prairie View A&M, is the only left-hander in the group.

“Those four are the leading contenders, at least as of now, to be the starters,” said Hallmark, who believes the pitching could be the best he has seen at UTSA.

In the field, defense up the middle is set, with returning veterans at all the key positions. Fleet Shane Sirdashney, in center field. Matt King at shortstop. Barry, a .347 hitter last year, at second base. Josh Killeen and Sammy Diaz at catcher.

Baylor transfer Antonio Valdez is expected to get a look at third base, along with Isaiah Walker. At first, Texas A&M transfer Taylor Smith and returning veteran Garrett Poston, an all C-USA tournament selection last year, are in the mix.

Both Valdez and Smith once played for Hallmark at Incarnate Word.

As for the candidates to play corner outield positions, Hallmark mentioned transfers Caleb Hill (from Temple Junior College) and Dalton Porter (Texas Tech). Also, UTSA has Walker, a flashy defensive specialist, plus freshmen Tye Odom and Garrett Brooks.

Brooks, a redshirt freshman from Smithson Valley High School, has caught Hallmark’s eye as of late.

“He had a good fall, but some of the other transfers were still ahead of him at the end,” Hallmark said. “But, for the last two weeks, he’s been our best hitter.”

As for last year, the subject of the flirtation with the NCAA tournament is still a sore subject, especially for the coach.

In the immediate aftermath of the bracket announcement, the reasons that UTSA failed to earn the bid were blurred a bit by the raw emotions of the moment. Hallmark said he has since learned that it had to do with two factors.

First, several teams pulled off postseason upsets, rising up through mid-level conference tournaments to knock off more highly-ranked opposition, he said. Hallmark said it happened in “five or six” other times in other tournaments, which pushed UTSA down on the list among teams vying for at-large bids.

“The other (reason), it’s a little harder pill to swallow,” Hallmark said.

He said UTSA’s “pre-conference weekend schedule” wasn’t deemed as tough enough.

“That,” Hallmark said, “is a little harder to swallow, because those schedules are set so early.”

For instance, this season, UTSA will host the Saint Mary’s (Calif.) Gaels for six games in February and the Power 5 Utah Utes for three games in early March.

“Both are traditionally pretty solid RPI teams,” Hallmark said. “But, if they have a down year, should you be penalized for that? Anyway, you could go back and forth, but those were the two reasons I heard.”

All UTSA players can do is go back to work, and, as the coach has said, just calm their minds and try to control what they can control.

But try as the might, he often thinks about Tapia and the others.

“Because that was their last year,” Hallmark said. “For those four guys, that was it. To this day, I still get a little emotional thinking about ’em.”

Madness in February: UTSA rallies to knock off No. 21 Middle Tennessee State

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

For UTSA women’s basketball players, the fourth day of February started off with sort of a March-like feel to it. Clear skies. Breezy. Temperature outside the Convocation Center warm enough for a T-shirt.

Inside the old arena, the day ended the same way, with a touch of madness in the air. With the game ball thrown up high at the final buzzer. With hugs for everyone. Oh, and with the fans standing and cheering in celebration.

Karen Aston. UTSA women's basketball beat No. 21 Middle Tennessee 58-53 on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Karen Aston said ‘it’s a really big step for us” after her UTSA Roadrunners forged a second-half comeback to beat Middle Tennessee State, the first-place team in Conference USA. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Junior forward Jordyn Jenkins produced 20 points and 16 rebounds as the Roadrunners upended the 21st-ranked Middle Tennessee State Lady Raiders, 58-53, for the program’s third Top 25 victory in 42 seasons.

Elyssa Coleman and Kyra White also contributed in a big way, with Coleman scoring 18 and White contributing 13 rebounds and eight assists. UTSA’s last victory over a Top 25 team came in March of 2016 with a 69-64 decision over No. 25 UTEP.

“Honestly, I hate to say this, because it might sound like I don’t appreciate … that they’re a Top 25 team,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said, “but really, this is about our team and … trying to find ourselves and grow, and I thought there was just such an enormous amount of growth between Thursday and today.

“When you see that happen … I’m not as outcome-oriented as everyone else is. I’m really trying to get everyone to understand what we’re trying to build here, and the culture we’re trying to build, and this was a really big step for us.”

The week started off the wrong way Thursday night as UTSA let a game slip away against Western Kentucky.

In response, Aston told her players on Friday “just to sell out” against Middle Tennessee and not worry so much about the results. More words from the coach? Give maximum effort. Be a good teammate. Try to control what “you can” control, Aston said.

“I think we did that today,” the coach added. “Super happy for them. You know, the fans are building. I think everyone that comes to this gym now can tell, even when we don’t win, they’re enjoying the process of seeing this program grow.”

In the last week, in its last three games, a UTSA team with one of the worst records in Conference USA has made tangible progress.

Jordyn Jenkins. UTSA women's basketball beat No. 21 Middle Tennessee 58-53 on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Jordyn Jenkins scored nine of her team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter for the Roadrunners. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Seven days ago, the Roadrunners won their first road game of the season, knocking off Louisiana Tech, 66-63. On Thursday night, they played well again but fell 73-67 to Western Kentucky, the C-USA’s second-place team.

Against first-place Middle Tennessee, UTSA seemed undaunted and unruffled, even when it fell behind by 11 points midway through the third quarter. The Roadrunners rallied behind Jenkins and Coleman for the most significant win in Aston’s two seasons at UTSA.

“It was a big game for us, especially coming off a loss that we felt like we should have had,” said Jenkins, who scored nine points in the fourth quarter. “We just locked in on the court … We played for each other.”

Courtney Whitson had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Raiders, who were swept by UTEP and UTSA in a two-game trip to Texas after winning 16 straight.

The Lady Raiders seemed to take control after halftime. After UTSA scored the first basket, the visitors responded with a 14-2 run, which was highlighted by three-point baskets from Alexis Whittington, Whitson and Savannah Wheeler.

Wheeler’s triple from the top of the circle lifted the Lady Raiders into a 36-25 lead with 4:54 remaining in the third quarter.

Unfazed, the Roadrunners answered with a 14-3 run of their own to tie the game. Down by two entering the fourth quarter, UTSA kept hustling, and it paid off.

UTSA players scrambled to cover shooters and forced the Lady Raiders into four of 18 shooting in the fourth. The Roadrunners also excelled on the offensive end, making seven of their last 12 afield.

Elyssa Coleman. UTSA women's basketball beat No. 21 Middle Tennessee 58-53 on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Elyssa Coleman produced 18 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. – Photo by Joe Alexander

In the fourth-quarter crunch time, Jenkins hit four buckets and White, a 5-9 guard enjoying her second standout game of the week, added three assists and four rebounds.

“Just coming into this game, we were due for one,” said White, who had 17 assists over two games this week and 24 in the last three. “We needed this one, to just help the team feel alive and just get the good energy coming back for us next week. It’s a great feeling today.”

White said she could not remember the last time she had 13 rebounds in game.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Coach made it an emphasis that everybody needs to get in there and get some rebounds. (My) shot wasn’t really fallling well. Just trying to do everything I could do to stay out on the court and produce — and just get the win.”

From the beginning, the Lady Raiders tried to bury the Roadrunners with 3-point shooting. But even with a mind-boggling 54 attempts from beyond the arc, they couldn’t do it.

They made 10 from long distance, which weren’t enough against a team that may have just wanted the game more.

With a 50-40 edge in rebounding, UTSA may have made a statement in that regard. “We have nothing to lose, honestly,” White said. “When you have nothing to lose, and you sell out for your teammates, good things happen.”

Records

Middle Tennessee 18-4, 11-2
UTSA 6-16, 4-9

Karen Aston. UTSA women's basketball beat No. 21 Middle Tennessee 58-53 on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Former Judson High School standout Kyra White (at left) had 13 rebounds and eight assists for the Roadrunners, increasing her totals to 24 rebounds and 24 assists in the last three games. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Coming up

UTSA at UTEP, Feb. 11

Winning vs. the top 25

UTSA women’s basketball victories against Top 25 competition

Jan. 24, 2015 — UTSA 64, (24) Western Kentucky 63
Highlight: Mannasha Bell 10 points and 10 rebounds

March 3, 2016 — UTSA 69, (25) UTEP 64
Highlight: Sara Anastasieska 14 points, three for three on 3-point shots

Feb. 4, 2023 — UTSA 58, (21) Middle Tennessee 53
Highlight: Jordyn Jenkins 20 points, 16 rebounds

x-All three wins at the UTSA Convocation Center

Third quarter

Middle Tennessee held a 41-39 lead after three quarters but UTSA was energized by a late burst of energy.

After falling behind by 11, the Roadrunners rallied on a 14-3 run in a four-minute period.

Elyssa Coleman’s two free throws with 18 seconds left tied the game, 39-all.

Halftime

In an unsightly offensive show by both teams, the Lady Raiders emerged at halftime with a 22-21 lead over the Roadrunners.

Middle Tennessee held the lead despite making only 8-38 from the field, including 5-33 from the 3-point arc. Many of the misses were wide-open looks that clanged off the rim.

Senior forward Kseniya Malashka came off the bench to lead the Lady Raiders with seven points on three of six from the field.

For UTSA, it was a good half, considering it stayed within one or two possessions of the 21st-ranked team in the nation.

But the Roadrunners’ offense also struggled, making only 6-23 shots, including 0-7 from three. Coleman led with seven points and Jenkins had five.

Notable

UTSA guard Sidney Love did not play against Middle Tennessee and apparently was not in the arena. She missed her second straight game. Asked about Love’s status late Thursday night, Coach Karen Aston declined to comment. Love, from Steele High School in the San Antonio area, has been a starter for most of the season and is averaging 8.9 points and 3.9 rebounds. Madison Cockrell sat out for the third straight game with a knee injury.

Deborah Nwakamma. UTSA women's basketball beat No. 21 Middle Tennessee 58-53 on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Guard Deborah Nwakamma scored four of her eight points in the fourth quarter, including two clutch free throws with 18 seconds remaining, to boost UTSA into a seven-point lead. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Lady Tops’ surge in final two minutes sinks the Roadrunners

Kyra White. UTSA lost to Western Kentucky 73-67 in Conference USA women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Kyra White had 11 points, nine assists and six rebounds, but UTSA came up short against the WKU Lady Toppers, 73-67. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
For The JB Replay

A two-game winning streak in women’s college basketball is a modest achievement. Most players just smile and shrug when it happens, because just about every team has one.

But for the struggling UTSA Roadrunners, it surely would have felt good — even euphoric — to win Thursday night for their first set of back-to-back victories of the year. It just didn’t happen.

Deborah Nwakamma. UTSA lost to Western Kentucky 73-67 in Conference USA women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Deborah Nwakamma exploded for eight points late in the third quarter to spark a UTSA rally. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The second-place WKU Lady Toppers outscored the Roadrunners 6-0 in the final two minutes to win 73-67 in Conference USA play.

“I thought we played really, really well,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “There was a segment in the third quarter where we ran out of gas a little bit and lost some attention to detail.

“I really thought that was a big moment in the game, because we were playing really well and in control … But that’s a good team, and they made the run that they needed to make. They made the plays they needed to make.”

A pair of 6-0 runs for WKU — one each at the end of the third and fourth quarters — proved to be critical in a hotly-contested game.

In the final minute of third, the Lady Tops scored six straight, erased a four-point deficit and took a 53-51 lead.

Later, with a little more than two minutes left in the game, the Roadrunners cleared the defensive boards and sent the ball to Jordyn Jenkins, the C-USA’s leading scorer.

Jenkins converted on a driving layup to tie it, 67-67.

In response, the Lady Tops pushed the ball ahead and called on guard Hope Sivori, who broke the tie, scoring left-handed on a drive with 2:10 remaining.

After Sivori’s bucket lifted WKU into a two-point lead, UTSA had plenty of time to secure what would have been its biggest victory of the season, but it didn’t work out that way.

Though the Roadrunners made a couple of defensive stops, their offense faltered with 0-for-5 shooting from the field in four straight possessions.

First, Jordyn Jenkins missed a runner off the side. Next, Elyssa Coleman had the ball on a break-out but couldn’t convert underneath the bucket.

On the other end, Sivori misfired on a 3-point shot, leading to a timeout with 40 seconds remaining.

UTSA had two chances on the next possession, with Jenkins missing the first on a drive. After an offensive rebound, Roadrunners guard Siena Guttadauro took a three that did not go down.

Finally for WKU, Alexis Mead knocked down a pair of free throws with 7.6 seconds left for a four-point lead. After another missed triple by the Roadrunners, Jaylin Foster was fouled and hit two more freebies with two seconds left for the game’s final points.

With the victory, the Lady Tops (12-9, 9-3) won their third straight game and stayed in hot pursuit of the C-USA’s front-running Middle Tennessee State Lady Raiders. WKU is 8-1 in its last nine games.

For the Roadrunners (5-16, 3-8), the game served as another reminder of how hard it is to build a winning program at the mid-major level.

Two years ago, UTSA was 2-18 overall and 0-14 in the C-USA in its last season under a previous coaching staff.

Last season, Aston took over. As a highly-successful veteran coach, she patched it together well enough to finish 7-23 and 3-14.

Now in her second season with the Roadrunners, Aston’s team has played 21 games over a three-month period and has yet to win two in a row.

“This UTSA (team) is way better than their record,” WKU coach Greg Collins said. “This team is more than capable of being just about any team in our conference.”

Last weekend, Aston’s Roadrunners won on the road at Louisiana Tech, 66-63, and then returned home to play in front of the home fans.

A victory over WKU would have been a big deal for confidence in a locker room filled with freshmen, and yet Aston was left searching once again for positives in a close loss — the team’s 12th of the season by seven points or less.

One bright spot centered on an offensive performance that featured five players reaching double figures in scoring, 46.6 percent shooting from the field as a team and 23 assists on 27 made baskets.

“That’s two games in a row with multiple players in double figures,” Aston said. “We’ve made a lot of progress as far as ball reversal, having a little more patience, moving the ball, finding the open people. I definitely think we’ve made significant strides in that area.”

All the Roadrunners can do now is look ahead for another opportunity, which will come Saturday at 2 p.m. when they host Middle Tennessee State, a team ranked 21st in the nation.

The Lady Raiders (18-3, 11-1) had their 16-game winning streak snapped Thursday night, falling 65-62 to the UTEP Miners in El Paso.

Notable

Freshman guards Sidney Love and Madison Cockrell did not play for UTSA against WKU. Cockrell was out with a knee injury. Aston declined to comment on why Love, a starter, didn’t get in the game. “I can’t disclose,” the coach said. In the all-time series against WKU, UTSA has now lost seven straight. The Roadrunners haven’t beaten the Lady Tops since 2017.

Individuals

WKU — Alexis Mead, 19 points, plus four rebounds and four assists. Jaylin Foster, 12 points and eight rebounds. Karris Allen, 10 points, all of it in the second half on three of six from the field and three of four from the 3-point arc. Acacia Hayes, who scored 31 points against UTSA in an eight-point victory on Jan. 7 in Bowling Green, Ky., was held to five in the rematch.

UTSA — Jordyn Jenkins scored 14 points on six of 14 shooting. Also had three rebounds and two blocked shots. Elyssa Coleman, 13 points, with 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Hailey Atwood, 12 points, with Kyra White and Deb Nwakamma 11 points apiece. White played an outstanding all-around game that included nine assists and six rebounds.

Records

Western Kentucky 12-9, 9-3
UTSA 5-16, 3-9

Coming up

Middle Tennessee at UTSA, Saturday, 2 p.m.

Third quarter

Fending off a scoring burst by Roadrunners guard Deb Nwakamma, the Lady Toppers scored six points in the final 21 seconds to take a 53-51 lead on the Roadrunners.

Nwakamma hit a couple of three-point baskets and addd a 10 footer off the glass to lift the Roadrunners into a 51-47 lead.

With under two minutes remaining, the Lady Tops fought back. First, Karris Allen nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing.

Next, Nwakamma turned the ball over in traffic. Taking advantage, Alexis Mead drove inside and scored and was fouled. She hit the free throw with 6.2 seconds left for the two-point lead.

UTSA’s Jordyn Jenkins was on the bench for much or the period in foul trouble. She had only two points in the quarter.

Halftime

Playing without two freshmen guards, including starter Sidney Love, the Roadrunners forged a 32-31 lead on the WKU Lady Toppers at intermission.

UTSA relied on solid shooting from the field (48.3 percent) in hanging tough against Conference USA’s second-place team, which employed an up-tempo style and a blizzard of 3-point shot attempts.

For the Roadrunners, Elyssa Coleman was 4-for-4 from the field and led the team with nine points. Guard/forward Hailey Atwood had eight and Jordyn Jenkins six.

The Roadrunners were without both Love and Madison Cockrell, who was on the bench but was not in uniform.

WKU stayed in the game with seven of 21 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Jaylin Foster hit a couple of triples and finished the half with 10 points. Alexis Mead also hit a couple of threes for the Lady Tops.

The Roadrunners did a good job defensively on WKU sparkplug Hope Sivori, who came into San Antonio on the heels of 17, 18 and 16-point games. Sivori, who plays off the bench, was held to one of four shooting and four points.

First quarter

Jordyn Jenkins scored six points, and the Roadrunners outrebounded the Lady Toppers by a wide margin in forging a 14-14 tie after the first period. UTSA held a 15-8 edge on the boards. The Lady Tops controlled their end of the floor by hitting four triples. They also scored eight points off seven UTSA turnovers. Jalyn Foster led the Lady Tops with eight points.