Junior forward Cheyenne Rowe elevated her game in Puerto Rico last week, averaging nine points and four rebounds in wins over UNC Greensboro and Towson. UTSA hosts Sam Houston State Saturday at 1 p.m. – File photo by Joe Alexander
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
For the surging UTSA women’s basketball team, one of the most important storylines to emerge from last week’s sweep of two games in Puerto Rico centered on the team’s high level of performance on the defensive end.
But as the Roadrunners returned to San Antonio and then started preparations for Saturday’s home game against the Sam Houston State Bearkats, the focus in practice didn’t seem to change. Not a bit.
Asked about the coaches’ points of emphasis this past week, reserve forward Cheyenne Rowe said succinctly:
“Team defense, team defense and team defense,” she said, smiling
It’s that simple, apparently. The goal is to cut off the Bearkats, who apparently have players who like to drive the ball.
Today, UTSA will be all about “making the court look small,” Rowe said. “Playing defense as a team. Helping each other out (and) being in help defense.
“Because there are so many drivers,” she said, “we have to be there for each other, and when we do that, we can get into good rebounding position.”
Sam Houston (5-2) and UTSA (6-1) will tip off at 1 p.m. in the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners have won six in a row, including a string of three straight wins when they have held opponents to an average of 45.3 points.
During that streak, UTSA has limited opponents to 32.6 percent shooting, including only 25.8 percent from the 3-point line.
After UTSA knocked off Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 62-43, on Nov. 20 in San Antonio, the team journeyed to Puerto Rico and walloped UNC Greensboro, 62-53, and Towson, 71-40, last Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Rowe said coaches didn’t let up in their drive to preach defense leading into this week’s one and only game against Sam Houston.
“Just because you’re doing good at something, doesn’t mean you stop working on it,” Rowe said. “So, that’s what we’re doing.”
With two relatively comfortable victories last week, another storyline emerged, with Head Coach Karen Aston going to the bench freely to play her reserve players.
The maneuver seemed to benefit Rowe, in particular, who produced eight points and five rebounds in 10 minutes against Greensboro and a career-high 10 points and three rebounds in 16 minutes against Towson.
In the two games combined, the 6-foot-2 junior from Ajax, Ontario in Canada hit eight of 14 shots from the field.
“One way to describe her compared to last year is that she’s comfortable with the system, the expectations and how we do things,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “She’s very comfortable, which enables her to play a little more (freely) and not worry about mistakes.
Continued Aston: “She’s in better shape. She’s spent a lot of time in the gym. Shoots a lot. She spent a lot of time this summer working on her game, and I think it’s just now starting to translate into games.”
UTSA has a talented frontcourt with Jordyn Jenkins headlining the group.
Jenkins, a high-scoring power forward, starts on the front line along with center Idara Udo. Backing up are Nyayongah Gony and Rowe, a second-year Roadrunner who started her college career with one season at James Madison.
Waiting in the wings is 6-foot-5 freshman Emilia Dannebauer.
After the team’s first four games, Rowe’s production was down, as her playing time fluctuated between seven and 14 minutes.
Staying on the floor was a challenge.
“I honestly don’t know what was going on,” she said. “It was just the nerves, probably. And then, now that I’m used to everything, my body’s used to it, game-time speed. Everything’s falling into place now, I think.”
Rowe’s talents range far beyond the basketball court.
In the classroom, she is one of the team’s brightest students, taking a double major in psychology and Japanese as a member of the UTSA honors college program.
While Rowe is fluent in Japanese, she also plays piano. Additionally, one of her long-range goals with the psychology major is to work for NASA one day.
A group on campus introduced her to the idea about a year ago.
“That’s when I realized that being a psychologist at NASA was a thing,” she said, “and I really love space and everything astro-physics, so I figured that would be a good combination of my two passions.”
Rowe is optimistic about the team’s continued success.
“Winning is always a really good feeling,” she said. “I think our team has realized where we’re at right now and I think we’re prepared to get in the gym and work harder, focus on what we need to improve on. Focus on our weaknesses and get better from there.”
Records
Sam Houston State (5-2)
UTSA (6-1)
Coming up
Sam Houston State at UTSA, 1 p.m.
UTSA at Stanford, Monday, Dec. 16, 2 p.m.