By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Heavily favored to win the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, the Connecticut Huskies nevertheless have been getting an earful from coach Geno Auriemma about staying in the moment.

About focusing on the present. About their first-round game, which just so happens to be set for Saturday afternoon on their home court against the upstart UTSA Roadrunners.

The coach of the 12-time NCAA champions met with the media on Friday in Storrs, Conn.

Among the first questions to Auriemma centered on how he keeps the players’ attention grounded in the moment and not on potential challenges in the later rounds.

“We were having the discussion this morning with some people about how much more difficult it is now to harness that concentration, that focus,” he said. “There’s two sides to this. The one side is, (it’s) hard to get them to concentrate on the same thing for 15 minutes, right?

“When you think about it, even me, you, anybody, we’re so — I’m guessing that them thinking about Fort Worth or beyond probably only lasts about 30 seconds, and then they’re on to something different. I’m hoping for that.”

The Huskies (34-0) have won 50 games in a row. If the defending champions and top overall seed in the field can win twice at home this weekend, they’ll move on to the regional semifinals next week in Fort Worth. The Final Four is the following weekend in Phoenix.

“All we can do is just keep reminding them that whatever they think is in the future isn’t going to happen if you don’t take care of the present,” Auriemma said. “That’s all. And you have to hope that the players that have been there already can explain to them, this is how it goes.

“And maybe the more games they watch on TV and see how close some people do get knocked out — I mean, there haven’t been any women’s games except for the first four games — but you saw some of the men’s games last night, and you see what can happen in the NCAA Tournament.”

As for the Roadrunners (18-15), UTSA players said it’s been “cool” to come to Storrs and see Gampel Pavilion for the first time.

“This is a really historical place, a place you dream of coming to play one day when you grow up and get to be in this position,” UTSA forward Idara Udo said. “It’s really exciting seeing all the banners, and it’s really cool to get to be a part of the culture and the history here.”

Asked if the first trip to historic Storrs to play the undefeated No. 1 team in the country was intimidating or exciting, UTSA forward Cheyenne Rowe said it’s a thrill to experience it.

“I would have to say it’s thrilling,” she said. “I wouldn’t say it’s intimidating at all. As a basketball player, playing UConn is just amazing. You know, it’s a chance to show us what we’ve got. Show the world what we’ve got.

“It’s definitely an exciting opportunity, so thrilling I would say is the world instead of intimidating.”

Auriemma holds a record of 1,284-165 for the most wins in NCAA history, and UConn is in the tournament for the 37th consecutive season under his watch.

The Huskies are the No. 1 seed for the 23rd time.

Connecticut has reached an NCAA-record 24 Final Fours and has won a record 12 national championships. They enter the tournament undefeated for the 10th time in program history.

Records

UTSA 18-15
Connecticut 34-0

Coming up

Saturday’s NCAA tournament games at Storrs, Conn. – (16) UTSA at (1) Connecticut, 2 p.m. (ABC); (8) Iowa State at (9) Syracuse, 4:30 p.m. Times are central.

Notable

UTSA is 0-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, falling in 2008 to No. 2 Seed Texas A&M, 91-52, in Baton Rouge, La. Again as the No. 15 Seed in 2009, UTSA took No. 2 Baylor to overtime before falling 87-82 at Lubbock.

Editor’s note

The JB Replay did not travel to Connecticut. The San Antonio-based website that has covered all of the UTSA women’s basketball home games on site this season has accessed transcripts of interviews in Storrs as provided by the NCAA.

UTSA sophomore guard Mia Hammonds has averaged 9.6 points on 66.7 percent shooting during the team’s last five games, including four at the American Conference tournament. She’s averaging 6.9 points for the season. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Two Saturdays ago in Houston, Mia Hammonds and Damara Allen walked into Tudor Fieldhouse as a couple of sophomore role players on a struggling, middle-of-the pack women’s basketball team in the American Conference.

In the regular-season finale on March 7, Hammonds and Allen reversed the trend by playing well, sparking a 61-52 upset victory for the UTSA Roadrunners over the first-place Rice Owls.

UTSA sophomore guard Damara Allen is averaging 8.1 rebounds over the last three games and 6.6 over the last five leading into the NCAA Tournament. – Photo by Joe Alexander

It was a win that propelled the Roadrunners on a five-game winning streak and, ultimately, lifted them to an unlikely — but oh, so sweet — conference postseason title.

As a result, UTSA will play in a first-round matchup Saturday afternoon at top-seeded Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament.

When the game is aired nationally on ABC, on Saturday at 2 p.m., the focus for broadcasters will center on undefeated UConn and its cast of stars, namely first-team All Americans Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd.

Conversely, the narrative on upstart and 16th-seeded UTSA probably will center on Roadrunners veteran stalwarts Cheyenne Rowe, Idara Udo and Ereauna Hardaway.

But make no mistake, the Roadrunners likely would not have won their second consecutive conference crown without Hammonds, Allen and some other young players showing up when their teammates needed them the most.

In the five-game winning streak – at Rice, on March 7, plus four games in four days in Birmingham at the American tournament – the 6-foot-3 Hammonds paced the young players, averaging 9.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals.

She also led the team during that stretch by shooting an eye-opening 66.7 percent from the field. Allen, for her part, has played a key role off the bench, with averages of 5.4 points and 6.6 boards during the streak.

In the wake of UTSA’s 3-6 skid through March 4, the ensuing improved play of Hammonds, Allen and others “changed the dynamic of our team,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said.

“The evolution of (Hammonds and Allen) late in the year, particularly in the (regular-season ending) Rice game and then (in the tournament), has dramatically changed our team,” Aston said Wednesday afternoon. “It didn’t just all of a sudden happen. But it sort of did.”

Reinforcing team values

The genesis of that mind-blowing 5-0 week actually evolved in the aftermath of UTSA’s agonizing March 4 home finale against Tulsa.
Against the Golden Hurricane, the Roadrunners lost 53-41 at the Convocation Center.

Riding a modest five-game winning streak, the postseason champions in the American Conference learn Sunday that they are on their way to play the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament. In the foreground, guard Damara Allen hugs one of her teammates with 6-foot-3 Mia Hammonds cheering the moment. – Photo by Joe Alexander

They shot 28.9 percent from the field en route to their fewest points in a conference game all season.

The second quarter was abysmal, with UTSA scoring only one point on a free throw, while committing seven turnovers and shooting zero for 10 from the field.

In the days after the debacle, the Roadrunners soul-searched individually and then met as a team. Players and coaches went so far as to define their values. Taking pride in their play. Experiencing growth. Having mental toughness. Staying competitive.

As a group, the Roadrunners rallied around the core principles, along with a directive from Aston to play more freely.

In other words, she wanted players who had been tentative in shooting the ball to “let it fly,” a message that Hammonds took to heart.

“Honestly, I feel like it helped everybody,” said Hammonds, who played at San Antonio-area Steele High School. “The shots I took were shots I would normally take. But I think I just stopped taking them.”

She said her hesitancy to take shots had stemmed from a fear that it would hurt the team’s chemistry.

“Like, (because) we had Cheyenne, and we had Idara, and we had E (Hardaway), I just wanted to play my role and do the small stuff,” she said. “But I learned I could step up and do a little more, as well.”

After the meeting, Hammonds had one of her best offensive games of the season in the regular-season finale against the Owls. She scored a team-high 14 points on seven of 10 shooting from the field.

Several other underclassmen looked better, as well. Freshman point guard Adriana Robles scored nine. Allen notched eight points, including a pair of three pointers, and five rebounds.

Even freshmen Sanaa Bean and Emilia Dannebauer were effective in limited minutes.

Dannebauer, a starter earlier in the season when Udo sat out with an injury, had three rebounds and two assists in 10 minutes. Bean surprised the Owls in the first five minutes of the game by sinking two straight baskets in the low post.

During a four field-goal scoring binge by Hammonds in the second quarter, UTSA took a 25-point lead.

At the end of the game, the Owls tried to pressure and force turnovers to mount a rally, but they fell short, bringing an end to their 22-game winning streak, while sending UTSA to the American tournament with renewed confidence.

Striking up a friendship

Hammonds and Allen first crossed paths on the AAU basketball trail when both were still in high school. They met for the first time in October of 2023 on a recruiting trip to UTSA.

UTSA coach Karen Aston says that the evolution of Mia Hammonds and Damara Allen as players ‘has dramatically changed our team.’ – File photo by Joe Alexander

Both found some common ground in that they had track and field backgrounds, Hammonds as a high jumper at Steele and Allen as a triple jumper at Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora, Colo.

Also, both were a little shy.

“I knew a little bit about her before,” Allen said, “because I played against her in AAU the summer before that, whenever we played in the national championship. That’s when I knew a little bit about her, but I didn’t really know her.

“So, we were just on the same (recruiting) visit. We just hung out with the team. We were just, like, meeting each other for the first time. And that was cool. I’m a really shy person. Like, I’m not an extrovert.

“So, I was kind of quiet, and I guess she was, too. She knew a little bit more about the coaches than me.”

Both of them, along with forward Taylor Ross, ended up inking a letter of intent a month later in the early signing period. In the following spring and summer, the Roadrunners signed transfers Nina De Leon Negron and Nyayongah Gony and another freshman, Emilia Dannebauer, from Germany.

In essence, it’s a class that has helped boost UTSA to two straight titles. First, De Leon Negron teamed with veteran Jordyn Jenkins to lead the Roadrunners to the 2025 regular-season title in the American.
This season, Hammonds, Allen and Dannebauer have all played a role in this year’s success.

Ross and Gony are on the team’s inactive list.

Told that the recruiting class for the 2024-25 season is still paying dividends, Allen smiled and said, “Sophomores, (we) stick together.”

Winning back to back titles

UTSA first won back-to-back championships in women’s basketball in 2008 and 2009 in the Southland Conference. Both years, the Roadrunners claimed postseason titles and automatic bids into the NCAA tournament.

The team has done it again now, in 2025 and 2026, with a twist.

Last season, the Roadrunners went 26-5 and set a program record for victories. In conference, they won a regular-season title at 17-1 but lost in the quarterfinals of the American tournament.

Subsequently, they did not reach the NCAA, opting to play in the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament (WBIT).

This year, the Roadrunners struggled early but turned it on late.

Taking a 13-15 record into the regular-season finale, they beat Owls in Houston on Senior Day, and then swept through Birmingham, claiming victories over Temple, South Florida, East Carolina and Rice again for the postseason crown and the NCAA automatic bid.

They’ll take a modest 18-15 record into Gampel Pavilion on Saturday against the 34-0 Huskies.

Hammonds and Allen are two-for-two in their careers. Two seasons on campus. Two conference titles.

“Obviously it feels good to come back out here and win an even bigger championship (this year) than last year,” Hammonds said. “Last year was like a growing year (for me). It was my first year and I just got to watch a very experienced team.

“We won 17 games and lost one in conference, and I just got to watch, basically, what I needed to come and do for the next year,” she said. “I just think I worked hard, and I’m so glad we achieved our goals.”

Last season, while Hammonds and Dannebauer played sparingly, Allen had a fast start to her career and played in 30 games.

This year, Hammonds is averaging 6.9 points and 5.0 rebounds in 33 games, including 20 starts. Allen also has played in all 33 games while starting 26. She’s averaging 8.2 points and 4.8 boards.

“In my two years here, I feel like I’ve learned a lot,” Allen said. “Playing with everyone who has been here, playing with top players like Maya and Nina and Jordy, I learned a lot from them, and it helped me grow my game in the transition … to this year.

“We went through some hardships, but I feel like I’ve matured and (grown) a lot.

“Coach Aston, she was hard on me. But I learned and grew from playing a lot. I played a lot more this year than I did last year, so definitely being in the game and getting the experience in the games … definitely has helped me.”

Listening and learning

Aston likes to tell a story about former University of Texas great Tai Dillard, a former San Antonio prep star.

It’s a story about how Dillard transformed herself from a confused freshman, into a Final Four contributor and, later, to a player who cashed paychecks in the Women’s National Basketball Association.

Prairie View A&M head coach Tai Dillard (left) visits with UTSA assistant Amber Gregg at the Convocation Center last December. Dillard worked on the coaching staff and Gregg played for UTSA teams that reached the NCAA tournament in 2008 and 2009. As a teenager, Dillard came out of San Antonio’s Sam Houston High School to play for Jody Conradt and assistant Karen Aston at Texas. – Photo by Jerry Briggs

“I’ll never forget that when I was at Texas, as an assistant, Tai was a freshman on our team,” Aston said. “You know, just couldn’t figure anything out. At all. Just constantly, all you heard was, Tai getting hollered at.

“Then we were going into the conference tournament and the light just came on for her, and she took off in the conference tournament. You know, she was an eventual pro and played here for the (San Antonio) Silver Stars, and (at Texas) was on (a) Final Four team.”

Today, Dillard is the head women’s basketball coach at Prairie View A&M. The point being, Aston believes that the light will come on for young players when, well, when it’s time.

“They’re not here on your time,” Aston said. “You (as a coach) wish they were. But, I’ll say that about young people, and I’ll say that about recruiting. I tell our coaches, a recruit’s going to decide on their time. They’re not on mine.

“And the evolution of young players, (it’s) the same thing. Like, it doesn’t happen on your watch. Sometimes, it just happens.”