UTSA women set school record with their 12th straight victory at home

Jordyn Jenkins. UTSA beat Temple 70-61 on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at the Convocation Center in American Athletic Conference women's basketball. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Jordyn Jenkins led an extended fourth-quarter rally Saturday as UTSA beat Temple and improved to 18-3, matching on Feb. 1 their victory total from all of last season. The Roadrunners finished 18-15 in 2023-24.- Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA’s homecourt winning streak is still intact.

Trailing by 14 points early in the second half and by 11 early in the fourth quarter, the Roadrunners rallied for their school-record 12th straight victory at home, downing the Temple Owls, 70-61, Saturday at the Convocation Center.

Jordyn Jenkins scored nine of her 16 points in the fourth quarter to lead the push in front of a rowdy home crowd.

Jenkins, the Roadrunners’ top player, had to sit out with an injury on Wednesday at South Florida. She made her return to the court count in crunch time, hitting two of five from the field and five of eight at the line in the final period.

Idara Udo. UTSA beat Temple 70-61 on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at the Convocation Center in American Athletic Conference women's basketball. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Idara Udo scored 15 points, pulled down nine rebounds and blocked a shot against the Temple Owls. – Photo by Joe Alexander.

The senior from Washington also had a couple of key steals down the stretch as the Roadrunners erased a four-point deficit with three minutes remaining.

With the victory, the Roadrunners hiked their record to 18-3 on the season and to 9-1 in the American Athletic Conference. UTSA improved to 11-1 in its last 12 after having a 10-game winning streak snapped at South Florida.

Temple, meanwhile, dropped its third straight, including back-to-back losses at North Texas and UTSA this week. The Owls fell to 12-9 and 6-4. Tiarra East scored 18 points and Tarriyona Gary added 17 for Temple.

The Roadrunners’ supporting cast also flourished. Idara Udo produced 15 points and nine rebounds. Nina De Leon Negron had 14 points, eight assists and five boards. Both, after being saddled with foul trouble in the first half.

Reserve forward Cheyenne Rowe, who came off the bench for 12 points and six rebounds, enjoyed a highlight moment late in the game with a step-back, three — heavily contested — to tie the score.

Three days after getting out-rebounded by the South Florida Bulls, the Roadrunners won the battle of the boards against the Owls, 47-34.

Records

Temple 12-9, 6-4
UTSA 18-3, 9-1

Coming up

North Texas at UTSA, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
UTSA at Wichita State, Saturday, Feb. 8, 1 p.m.

Notable

UTSA coach Karen Aston applauded her players for securing a school record for consecutive homecourt wins when the alternative could have been a two-game losing streak.

Quotable

“That’s a pretty good statement to start off with, a record-breaking win for our players,” Aston said. “Putting it in perspective, and we talked about this in the locker room yesterday, we had a chance to reach the total number of wins we had last year on Feb. 1. That’s pretty remarkable (that we did it).”

Sidney Love, Nina De Leon Negron. UTSA beat Temple 70-61 on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at the Convocation Center in American Athletic Conference women's basketball. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Sidney Love (left) and Nina De Leon Negron sank consecutive threes early in the fourth quarter to cap an 11-0 UTSA run. – Photo by Joe Alexander

The Roadrunners finished 18-15 last season.

“Super proud of everyone that’s involved in the program,” Aston said. “I think this is a really big win. A really, really big win. Because you come off of a loss and invariably, in all my years of coaching, it’s hard sometimes to not let one turn into two. And, we fought through it today.

“Bottom line, it wasn’t the prettiest game we’ve ever played. But, a very, very gutty performance.”

AAC race

UTSA stands alone in first place in the standings at 9-1, while South Florida and North Texas are 8-2. Tulane is in fourth at 7-3 and Temple fifth at 6-4. In other games involving the leaders Saturday, South Florida won at home, downing North Texas 65-58. Tulane, playing at home, defeated UAB, 72-55.

First half

Attacking at every opportunity, Gary scored 13 points and hit three for three from 3-point distance as the Owls raced to a 36-24 halftime lead.

East also held the hot hand for the Owls, scoring nine points on three for three shooting. The Roadrunners, meanwhile, failed to get into a rhythm against a bigger and more athletic opponent.

Midway through the second quarter, UTSA starters Udo, De Leon Negron and Sidney Love all went to the bench with two fouls. In the meantime, the substitutions didn’t mesh well with the veterans on the floor, and the Roadrunners kept turning the ball over.

UTSA committed 13 turnovers in the half, including seven in the second quarter. When the Roadrunners weren’t throwing the ball away, they were misfiring on their shots, making only eight of 18 from the field for 28.6 percent.

Cheyenne Rowe. UTSA beat Temple 70-61 on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at the Convocation Center in American Athletic Conference women's basketball. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Cheyenne Rowe had 12 points and five rebounds off the bench for the Roadrunners. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Jenkins, injured when she took a fall on the floor at home on Jan. 22 against Tulsa, started and played 10 minutes in the opening quarters. Surrounded by defenders in the paint, she produced two points and four rebounds. Jenkins was one of four from the field.

Third quarter

Early on, East hit a jumper and pushed Temple to a 38-24 lead. She continued to shoot it well, sinking four of six from the field and scoring nine points in the quarter, as the Owls held on to a 51-42 lead going into the fourth. Jenkins scored five points in five minutes for the Roadrunners.

Records

Temple 12-9, 6-4
UTSA 18-3, 9-1

Coming up

North Texas at UTSA, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
UTSA at Wichita State, Saturday, Feb. 8, 1 p.m.

What they said

Nina De Leon Negron, on if she expected this kind of success after transferring into the program over the summer, said: “I’m being honest, no. But, once we start practicing, I’m like, this team is special. Like, this team can do a lot of things. Once we saw how mature most of the young players are, I just knew that we could do great things.”

Temple coach Diane Richardson. UTSA beat Temple 70-61 on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at the Convocation Center in American Athletic Conference women's basketball. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Coach Diane Richardson’s Temple Owls beat the Roadrunners twice last season en route to a 13-5 record in the AAC and a tie for the championship. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Idara Udo, on the support from the fans, “I think that it’s everything for me and I think for our team, as well. Just hearing the crowd and hearing the encouragement we get, and not just hearing it but seeing how many people come out and support us and want us to be successful, I think that means a lot to us and motivates us more.”

Last loss at home

On Feb. 22, 2024, Temple beat UTSA 56-48 at the Convocation Center. It was the last time that an opposing team has beaten the Roadrunners in their home arena.

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