The UTSA women celebrate Saturday night after claiming the American Conference postseason championship. – Photo courtesy of UTSA Athletics
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
The UTSA women’s basketball team will play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years.
Sixth-seeded UTSA played suffocating defense and routed the No. 1 Rice Owls 54-40 Saturday night in Birmingham, Ala., to claim the American Conference postseason title.
With the championship came an automatic bid into the NCAA field of 68.
Riding a five-game winning streak, including four in four days in Alabama, UTSA (18-15) will find out its destination and opponent Sunday night.
In the wake of the loss, Rice (28-5) has been left in limbo, wondering if its full body of work this season will be good enough for an NCAA at-large bid.
UTSA guard Ereauna Hardaway delivered in the championship game with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. In 30 minutes of playing time, she had zero turnovers. – Photo courtesy of UTSA athletics
Led by Cheyenne Rowe, Idara Udo and unflappable senior guard Ereauna Hardaway, the Roadrunners opened a seven-point lead after a grind-it-out first half, fended off a brief flurry from the Owls in the third period and then dominated the rest of the way.
“I’ve always thought this team could be a championship contender,” said Rowe, who was named most outstanding player in the tournament. “Never a doubt in my mind. But, to me, this moment is surreal. I never thought I specifically would be here.
“But my teammates always believed in me. My coaches believed in me. The athletic trainers, the academic advisors. Everyone believed in me. Without them, I don’t know if I would be where I am now.”
The Roadrunners’ performance in the American tournament is unmatched in the program’s 45 years.
In both 2008 and 2009, led by Coach Rae Rippetoe-Blair and star guard Monica Gibbs, they won Southland postseason titles and advanced to play in the NCAA tournament both seasons.
Each time, the Roadrunners won three games in the SLC’s postseason event in Katy to hoist the trophy. This time, for the first time in program history, UTSA won a conference tournament by winning four games in four days.
In addition, it is also the second-straight season that the Roadrunners have claimed a championship in the American.
Last year, with Player of the Year Jordyn Jenkins setting the pace, the Roadrunners rolled to a 26-5 record and won the American’s regular season at 17-1.
But as last year’s squad entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed, it stumbled in its first game in the quarterfinals at Frisco and lost to the Owls.
This season, they entered the tournament under the radar, but not lacking in confidence.
UTSA forward Cheyenne Rowe produced 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. She was named most outstanding player in the tournament. – File photo by Joe Alexander
Buoyed by a 61-52 win over Rice in the regular-season finale at Houston, UTSA traveled to Birmingham with renewed confidence, which led to consecutive victories over Temple, third-seeded South Florida and No. 2 East Carolina.
Finally, UTSA capped the run with its second emphatic victory over Rice in seven days. This one, for all the marbles, so to speak.
“Obviously, I couldn’t be any happier for our school, to have the opportunity to go play in the NCAA tournament,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said.
“And, most importantly,” the coach continued, “our players, our staff, you know, I told them before the game that, I just appreciated how they’ve approached this tournament.
“Really, just how they’ve stayed in the trenches no matter what’s happened all year long. They’ve been resilient, staff included.
“Like everybody, really stayed on one page, and that’s difficult when you have a group of 25 or 30 people to keep ’em all headed in the right direction.
“This group has done that, and I think they deserved what they got today. I think that they played with purpose all week long, and, in particular today, I thought we played fantastic.
“Kudos to Rice for the run to the tournament,” Aston continued. “Terrific team. But I did think that our team played really, really well today, and I’m super proud of ’em.”
One year after claiming the conference’s regular-season title, Aston’s legend continues to grow.
In her 18 seasons as a head coach, she has now led three programs to a combined eight NCAA tournaments.
The first one came in 2009 at Charlotte, followed by six more at the University of Texas in consecutive years from 2014 to 2019, and now one in her fifth season at UTSA.
This one might have been her best work in the whole bunch, everything considered.
UTSA forward Idara Udo notched 11 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots against the Owls. Udo and Ereauna Hardaway were named to the all tournament team. – File photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA had five scholarship players sit out the entire season with injuries.
Included in the group that did not play was Maya Linton, one of the best on-the-ball defenders in the conference last season, plus promising sophomore Taylor Ross and freshman Sema Udo.
Sema Udo is Idara Udo’s younger sister.
To make matters worse for UTSA, Idara Udo sat out eight games, including one at Columbia on Dec. 20 and the next seven to start play in the American’s schedule.
Through it all, Aston never lost faith in the group even during a 2-5 slump from Jan. 31 to Feb. 24.
Not even after it fell behind by 38 points on Feb. 24 at North Texas before losing by 24.
Aston was visibly shaken on March 4 when UTSA lost 53-41 to Tulsa at home, a game in which UTSA scored only one point in the second quarter.
But after a team meeting, the Roadrunners started to click. They journeyed on to the road and beat the Owls on March 7 in Houston to close the regular season.
Flanked in a postgame press conference Saturday by Rowe, Udo and Hardaway, the coach said it started with those players.
“They’re strong leaders,” she said. “They’re very, very competitive.
“They play with purpose. They practice with purpose … I think a piece of it was Idara getting healthy, healthy enough to help us down the stretch.
“It took time, because of the injuries and because of Ereauna getting to know our team and our system. Sometime, when you have system in place that people do believe in, then you can turn the tide at any point.”
She said the turning point came over the last week when young players such as Hammonds and Damara Allen started to “grow up a little bit” and make major contributions.
Karen Aston has now guided three different college basketball programs to eight NCAA tournaments in her 18 years as a head coach — including one at Charlotte, six at Texas and now one at UTSA. – File photo by Joe Alexander
“I thought that was the biggest difference for us,” she said.
Against Rice, Rowe had 13 points and eight rebounds. Hardaway, a standout Friday night against East Carolina, also scored 13, to go along with four assists and five rebounds.
Idara Udo, whose defense in the paint led a group that held the Owls to their lowest point total of the season, also produced on offense with 11 points. She had six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
On the defensive end, the Roadrunners were superb. They locked down the Owls to a season-low in points on only 27.1 percent shooting from the field.
Victoria Flores, the player of the year in the American, and fellow first-team all-conference selection Dominique Ennis were held to a combined 14 points on five of 19 shooting.
Another perimeter threat, Aniah Alexis, scored two points on one of 11 shooting.
Inside scoring threat Shelby Hayes, thwarted by Udo, Rowe and others, was held to five points.
San Antonio’s Hailey Adams, a Rice redshirt junior from Clark High School, led the Owls in scoring with 12 points on six of 11 shooting. The rest of the team shot 10 for 48.
Notable
Rice coach Lindsay Edmonds said she thinks her team deserves an at-large NCAA tournament bid.
“I do believe we’re a team that deserves to be in the NCAA,” she said. “I hope the committee will look at that, and we’ll be a two-bid league this year.”
Both Edmonds and Aston are in their fifth seasons at their respective schools. The Rice job is Edmonds’ first as a head coach. She is 101-59 with a trip to the WNIT in 2023 and to the NCAA in 2024.
Rice coach Lindsay Edmonds said she thinks her team, at 28-5, deserves a bid to the NCAA tournament. – File photo by Joe Alexander
In five years at UTSA, Aston took over a program that had won two games the previous season and has compiled a record of 82-77, with trips to the WNIT in 2023-24, the WBIT in 2025 and now the NCAA this season.
Last season, Aston’s Roadrunners entered the American tournament as the No 1 seed and were beaten in the quarterfinals by Edmonds’ Owls. This season, Rice beat UTSA 65-55 in San Antonio on Jan. 31. UTSA returned the favor, winning 61-52 in Houston, on March 7.
Aston’s Roadrunners are now 7-4 against Edmonds’ Owls over the past five seasons.
First half
UTSA entered the finals of the tournament coming off three wins in three days.
Rice, with a triple bye into the semifinals, knocked off No. 5 North Texas to earn its third straight trip to the American finals.
From the outset, however, it was UTSA that seemed to have all the energy.
The Roadrunners played stifling defense and did just enough on offense to take a 20-13 lead.
Trailing by two going into the second quarter, UTSA started to move the ball around, getting multiple players involved.
Adriana Robles, Damara Allen and Mia Hammonds all hit field goals midway through the period for UTSA.
Robles drove to her right and flipped the ball high off the glass for a layup. Allen spun and tossed in a 10 footer with her left hand.
Hammonds used her quickness and length to drive right and sink a six-foot runner.
Rowe, who led the Roadrunners with eight points at the half, sank the last bucket on a fancy dribble move in the paint, followed by a left-handed finish from 10 feet.
Rice, meanwhile, went scoreless in the last 4:43 of the half.
For the half, the Owls hit only five of 31 from the field for 16.1 percent. Rice stars Victoria Flores and Dominique Ennis were held largely in check.
Sophomore forward Mia Hammonds had nine points, six rebounds and a steal against the Owls. During the team’s five-game winning streak, she has scored 38 points on 22 of 35 shooting from the field. – File photo by Joe Alexander
Flores had three points at the half, while Ennis was scoreless. Combined, the two first-team, all-conference performers were one for 12 from the floor.
Records
UTSA 18-15
Rice 28-5
Coming up
UTSA will learn on Sunday night its destination and opponent in the NCAA Tournament.
The tournament opens with NCAA First Four games on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the Round of 64 openers set for Friday and next Saturday.
American Conference
Women’s basketball tournament
At Birmingham, Ala.
Tuesday
Game 1 — (9) FAU defeats (8) Charlotte, 74-70, overtime
Game 2 — (7) Temple defeats (10) Tulane, 86-77, overtime
Wednesday
Game 3 — (5) North Texas defeats (9) FAU, 80-57
Game 4 — (6) UTSA defeats (7) Temple, 59-51
Thursday
Game 5 — (5) North Texas defeats (4) Tulsa, 76-73
Game 6 — (6) UTSA defeats (3) South Florida, 62-51
Friday
Game 7 — (1) Rice defeats (5) North Texas 71-67
Game 8 — (6) UTSA defeats (2) East Carolina, 54-44
Saturday
Game 9 (championship) — (6) UTSA defeats (1) Rice, 54-40.
Records
y-(1) Rice 28-5, 17-1
y-(2) East Carolina 22-10, 14-4
y-(3) South Florida 20-12, 13-5
y-(4) Tulsa 19-12, 11-7
y-(5) North Texas 19-14, 11-7
x-(6) UTSA 18-15, 9-9
y-(7) Temple 15-17, 8-10
y-(8) Charlotte 14-18, 8-10
y-(9) FAU 14-18, 7-11
y-(10) Tulane 11-20, 6-12
x-tournament champion
y-eliminated
The UTSA women on Saturday night celebrated a conference postseason title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Please see my updated story. https://t.co/hyCDEtJ4sq pic.twitter.com/zgmvFEkXex
— Jerry Briggs (@JerryBriggs) March 15, 2026