Six-foot-three sophomore Mia Hammonds scored 14 of her career-high 16 points in the first half. – Photo by Joe Alexander
By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Mia Hammonds led a rejuvenated offense in the first half. Cheyenne Rowe lit up the scoreboard after intermission.
On top of all that, the UTSA women played suffocating defense for most of the 40 minutes as the Roadrunners routed the Texas State Bobcats 64-41 in their home opener Thursday night at the Convocation Center.
Rowe, a 6-2 senior forward, scored 15 of her 16 points after intermission, as the defending champions in the American Conference cruised to their first win of the season and the 350th in the career of Coach Karen Aston.
Banners honoring the accomplishments of UTSA’s 2024-25 women’s basketball team are unfurled on Thursday night at the Convocation Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Rowe had ample help from Hammonds, a 6-3 sophomore from Steele, who had 14 of her career-high 16 in the first half.
Hammonds sparked the attack in the first two quarters with six of seven shooting.
She finished with the best game of her career as UTSA bounced back from two road losses last week, at Texas Tech and Houston.
The road trip was a tough one. In Lubbock, against Texas Tech, UTSA took a 79-52 pounding last Thursday night.
On Saturday in Houston, the Roadrunners played well defensively but fell short, 52-48, because of an offense that misfired all night.
“I think it’s just good to be back home,” Aston said. “We haven’t had a true home game. We started out on the road, and it was a long week last week.
“We were all very excited about being home. We like playing here, so it was a fun day for us.”
Jordyn Jenkins (left) and Nina De Leon Negron, both members of last season’s championship team, watch as the 2024-25 American Conference championship banner is unfurled at the Convocation Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander
The day held meaning on multiple levels.
Not only was it a career milestone for Aston and a coming out of sorts for a talented young player in Hammonds, it also gave the team a boost at a critical juncture, with the next three games away from home.
In addition, it lent some substance to pre-game festivities staged to commemorate last season’s 26-5 tour de force.
Free-flowing nostalgia
At the beginning of the evening, with 1,221 fans in the stands, the nostalgia flowed freely.
A video played on the big screen showing highlights of the UTSA’s run to the 2024-25 American Conference women’s basketball title.
To cap off the ceremony, banners were unfurled in the rafters, one of them commemorating the title and the other noting the program’s trip to the Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament.
As the current crop of UTSA players watched, something obviously was stirring inside them.
Coach Karen Aston hit a milestone with the 350th victory of her career. — Photo by Joe Alexander
“I almost cried,” Rowe said. “That was nice. That was a moment you just can’t get normally. Being a player, that’s all you want.”
A few possessions into the game, guard Damara Allen drained a three pointer. Then, another.
Her teammate, Hammonds, sank a couple of easy layups, one on a sweet assist from Rowe on a back-cut to the basket.
With former UTSA stars Jordyn Jenkins and Nina De Leon Negron seated at courtside, Hammonds kept on scoring, hitting one three out of the corner and once racing on the dribble past a couple of Texas State defenders to score a layup.
“Coast to coast,” the public address announcer exclaimed.
For the half, the Roadrunners shot 14 of 25 from the field and four of seven from behind the 3-point arc, a dramatic improvement from the team’s first two games of the season.
On the season-opening road trip, UTSA shot a combined 35 for 111 from the field and six for 37 from three.
Against the Bobcats, the Roadrunners’ offense started off hot but cooled off to finish 23 of 47 afield and four of nine at the arc.
Deja Jones, a guard who once played at East Central High School, UTSA and Indiana State, led Texas State with 11 points. – Photo by Joe Alexander
“It was a fun day to celebrate the banner and kind of close the chapter on that moving forward,” Aston said. “I thought we actually played really well, in particular, defensively.
“I was pleased at how we made their shots difficult. On the other hand, we had some really good glimpses offensively and a lot that needed to be looked at.
“We’re just a work in progress on that end because we’ve got a lot of players that haven’t played together, and they’re getting to know each other and where (they) like the ball.
“We had some glimpses that were really good but we obviously have got a lot of work to do.”
Records
Texas State 0-3
UTSA 1-2
Coming up
UTSA at Incarnate Word, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.
Individuals
Texas State — Forward Deja Jones, who once played at East Central High School and at UTSA in San Antonio, led the Bobcats with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists. Jones was held to five of 22 shooting. Forward Kyra Anderson had 10 points and eight rebounds. Guard Saniya Burks, who was averaging 22 points, was held to seven on three of 12 shooting.
UTSA – Hammonds finished with 16 points on seven of 11 shooting. She also had five rebounds, three blocks and five turnovers. Rowe had 16 on six of eight afield and also produced eight rebounds and four assists. Idara Udo had nine points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Emilia Dannebauer had six points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes.
Cheyenne Rowe scored 15 of her 16 points in the second half. She had the fans on their feet with a flurry of sweet post moves and short jumpers at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarters. – Photo by Joe Alexander
Notable
Opening her 18th year as a head coach, Karen Aston improved to 350-208. Her teams have a 17-game winning streak going at home, dating to the end of the 2023-24 season, including 13-0 last season.
Quotable
Mia Hammonds said having Jordyn Jenkins and Nina De Leon Negron at the game and at team practices served as a boost. “They’ve been a lot of help this week at our practices,” she said. “From being from a winning team last year, like, I just wanted to win for them. I heard them on the sideline. They were talking the whole game.”