UTSA’s Sidney Love on the WBIT: ‘We want to keep winning for ourselves’

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

If the UTSA Roadrunners want to prove a point that they deserved to play at home in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, they will get the opportunity to do so tonight when they take the floor in Spokane, Wash., against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

But as far as Roadrunners guard Sidney Love is concerned, she just wants to win to extend the time she can spend with her teammates.

“We want to keep winning for ourselves,” the former Steele High School standout said. “We’re not really worried about anybody else. Winning is a good feeling, especially with this group that we’ve got.

“We’ve got seniors we want to play for. We’ve got coaches that we want to play for. Everybody’s bought into each other. So, that’s the motivation.”

The Roadrunners (26-4) have experienced an emotional whirlwind in the past 20 days.

On the first day of March, they clinched the American Athletic Conference regular season championship outright, securing the title by beating Florida Atlantic at home and then celebrating it by cutting down the nets at the Convocation Center.

In their regular-season finale on March 4, they journeyed on the road and walloped the East Carolina Pirates, 67-48, putting an exclamation mark on a 17-1 run through the AAC schedule.

UTSA then opened in the AAC tournament on March 10 in Fort Worth against the Rice Owls. The Owls, seeded ninth in the tournament, stunned the top-seeded Roadrunners, 62-58, throwing their postseason destiny into question.

Last Saturday, they held a practice, and then did so again on Sunday as they prepared to watch the postseason bracket announcements. Deep down, the Roadrunners knew they weren’t likely to get the NCAA tournament invitation, realizing that the second-tier WBIT was their most likely destination.

That is how it played out, though they didn’t get the seeding and the home game that they thought they deserved from officials running the WBIT. Instead, they watched as teams such as Florida (16-17) and Villanova (18-14) were seeded in the bracket and were granted home dates to open the tournament.

In the NCAA’s Evaluation Tool rankings, Florida (50) and Villanova (70) were both ranked higher than UTSA (71). But the Roadrunners finished with a far superior win-loss record.

Moreover, UTSA was ranked higher in the NET than Wyoming (80), and yet Wyoming (at 22-11) is seeded fourth in one of the WBIT bracket quadrants and is hosting tonight against Texas Tech.

In the bracket quadrant that includes UTSA, Colorado (20-12) was the top seed, followed by Minnesota (20-11) at No. 2, Missouri State (25-8) at No. 3 and Gonzaga (22-10) at No. 4. With Gonzaga seeded, it earned the right to host in the first round and drew UTSA, one of four unseeded teams in its quadrant and one of 16 in the 32-team bracket at large.

Fourth-year UTSA coach Karen Aston continued to question earlier this week how the Roadrunners did not get the right to host. She mentioned it Monday and again on Tuesday. At the same time, she said that the opportunity to play in a postseason event for the second straight year is “huge” for her program.

Last year, the Roadrunners played in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament and went 1-1 to finish the season 18-15. This year, they advanced themselves to the WBIT, with an opportunity to record a 30-win season if they can win four games. If they can win five, they’d win their second title this spring.

“Four years into this, we are two years in a row in the postseason,” Aston said. “I’ve used the word remarkable several times this year, and it truly is. We felt like it was a big step to go to the NIT last year, and we’ve taken another one. This is a very respectable tournament. I’ve talked to several coaches that were in this tournament last year and they said it was fantastic. It was competitive.”

Added the coach: “They felt really privileged to be in it. They were treated with respect. I’m excited for our kids to feel that.”

Sophomore forward Idara Udo said in interviews on campus Tuesday afternoon that the Roadrunners are just hungry to play again.

“Usually when teams get disappointed in their (conference) tournament and stuff like that, some people check out,” Udo said. “Some people have a shift in mentality. But I think one thing that I’m very proud of with this team is just us staying positive and keeping our heads up. Just coming in here hungry and ready to work.”

Should the Roadrunners win on Thursday night, they’d play again on Sunday. They’d play the winner between Colorado or Southeastern Louisiana (26-5). If Colorado wins at home Tuesday night, CU likely would be at home again in Boulder for the second round.

Records

UTSA 26-4
Gonzaga 22-10

WBIT today

First round

Upper left quadrant
North Carolina A&T at (1) Virginia Tech, 5 p.m.
Texas Tech at (4) Wyoming, 7:30 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Northern Illinois at (3) Florida, 6 p.m.
Hawaii at (2) UNLV, 8:30 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Lower left quadrant
UTSA at (4) Gonzaga, 8 p.m.
Southeastern Louisiana at (1) Colorado, tonight at 8 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Oral Roberts at (3) Missouri State, 6:30 p.m.
(2) Minnesota at Toledo, 6 p.m., (Minnesota unable to host)
(Winners play Sunday)

Upper right quadrant
Davidson at (1) James Madison, 6 p.m.
Marquette at (2) Drake, 4 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Middle Tennessee at (3) Belmont, 6:30 p.m.
Northern Arizona at (2) Arizona, 8 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Lower right quadrant
Albany at (1) St. Joseph’s (Pa.), 6 p.m.
Boston College at (4) Villanova, 6 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Quinnipiac at (3) Seton Hall, 6 p.m.
Portland at (2) Stanford, 9 p.m.
(Winners play Sunday)

Notable

If Colorado wins tonight, it’s likely that Sunday’s second-round game will be held in Boulder. If UTSA and Southeastern Louisiana both win, then the second round could be played in San Antonio.

UTSA sophomore guard Aysia Proctor did not attend Tuesday’s open workout in San Antonio. A spokesman said after the workout that he wasn’t sure about her status to play against Gonzaga.

The Bulldogs struggled early in the season, losing eight of their first 14 games. Powered by forward Yvonne Ejim, they finished on a 16-1 run to the end of the regular season to tie for first in the West Coast Conference standings with Portland. Both teams had a 17-3 WCC record. Gonzaga, slotted into the WCC tournament semifinals, then lost 63-61 to Oregon State.

For the season, Ejim, a 6-1 forward from Canada who was named as the WCC Player of the Year, averaged 20.6 points ad 8.9 rebounds. Six-foot-three forward Maud Huijbens from The Netherlands is another strong post player for the Bulldogs. She averaged 9.3 points and 7.0 boards.

When teams try to collapse on the Gonzaga posts, guards Allie Turner, Claire O’Connor and Portugal native Ines Bettencourt take advantage with their perimeter shooting. Turner hits 45.7 percent from three, while O’Connor (43.4 percent) and Bettencourt (36.6) can also fill it up from behind the arc. Turner is a playmaker, averaging 13.4 points, while passing for 116 assists.

Baseball: UTSA knocks off eighth-ranked Texas, 8-7, in 12 innings

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Andrew Stucky hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the 12th inning, and Braylon Owens retired three straight batters in the bottom half, as the UTSA Roadrunners upset the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns, 8-7, on a windy Tuesday night in Austin.

Andrew Stucky celebrates at second base after his first-inning double drove in UTSA's first two runs.

Andrew Stucky, shown here in a game from last season, belted a solo home run in the 12th inning Tuesday night to lift UTSA to an 8-7 victory over eighth-ranked Texas. – File photo by Joe Alexander

With the victory, the Roadrunners (17-6) won their third game this month against a prominent in-state college baseball program.

On March 4, they beat the 14th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies, 7-4, in College Station. Last weekend, they went 1-2 on the road against 20th-ranked Dallas Baptist, winning the middle game of the series, 15-11, on Saturday. They followed by taking down Texas (17-2) for the first time since 2019, snapping the Longhorns 17-game winning streak in the process.

Owens (3-1) emerged as the winning pitcher for the Roadrunners, while former UTSA star Ruger Riojas (5-1) took the loss for the Longhorns.

For UTSA, freshman Caden Miller from Madisonville hit two solo home runs. He led off the game with a solo shot in a two-run first inning to give the Roadrunners early momentum.

Afterward, the Longhorns retaliated, scoring one run in the first on a Max Belyeu solo blast, two in the second and third innings and another one in the fifth on a solo homer by freshman Adrian Rodriguez. When Rodriguez’s home run left the ball park, Texas had seeming control of the proceedings with a 6-2 lead.

In response, UTSA answered with three runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to take a 7-6 lead. Freshman Nathan Hodge capped the three-run sixth with a double off the glove of third baseman Casey Borba. In the seventh, the left-side hitting Miller started the uprising by pulling a pitch and sending a rocket over the right field wall for one run. The other came home on a throwing error by Borba.

The Longhorns answered in the eighth when junior catcher Rylan Galvan homered. His solo shot off UTSA reliever Kendall Dove landed far beyond the left field wall and tied the game, 7-7.

Drama unfolded in the top of the ninth inning when the Longhorns sent Riojas into the game to pitch to his former teammates. For the last two seasons, the Wimberley native had been a fixture in the UTSA program as one of the Roadrunners’ top arms. Last season, he led UTSA in wins (10), saves (seven) and earned run average (3.25). In the offseason, he entered the transfer portal and elected to move to a higher level to pitch for Texas.

With UTSA in the visitors’ dugout in Texas’ home ballpark and the Longhorns’ 17-game streak on the line, Riojas ended up pitching the last four innings of the game. From the ninth through the 11th, he was brilliant, holding the Roadrunners off the scoreboard in each frame. In the 11th, UTSA had a great chance to win it with runners at second and third base and nobody out. But Riojas retired three straight — the first two on strikeouts — to get out of the jam unscathed.

In the 12th, the Roadrunners finally caught up with him. After he retired brothers Ty Hodge and Nathan Hodge, Stucky stepped up and barreled a ball over the left field wall for the go-ahead run.

UTSA pitching, in turn, was masterful down the stretch. Roadrunners pitchers allowed the Longhorns only one run in the last seven innings of the game. Dove pitched three and two-thirds, giving up only the solo homer in the eighth. Afterward, Zach Royse, Robert Orloski and Owens combined to work the last four innings scoreless.

In the bottom of the 12th, Owens retired Galvan on a ground ball before making a key defensive play. Jaden Duplantier hit a slow roller that Owens fielded cleanly, firing to first for the out. Gasparino, who has a .549 slugging percentage, came to the plate as the Longhorns’ last hope and struck out swinging to end the game..

Interestingly enough, Royse, Orloski and Owens are three fixtures in UTSA’s weekend rotation. Royse and Owens are starters and Orloski is a reliever, the team’s designated stopper with a 6-0 record. Moreover, UTSA’s opening series in the American Athletic Conference is coming up this weekend in Charlotte, N.C. The series against the 49ers starts Friday night.

Records

UTSA 17-6
Texas 17-2

Coming up

UTSA at Charlotte, Friday, 5 p.m.

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UTSA turns up the noise in preparation for a WBIT road test at Gonzaga

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

At times, the piped-in, ear-ringing noise in the Convocation Center Tuesday afternoon made it difficult to think, which was precisely the point that UTSA coach Karen Aston wanted to make.

Jordyn Jenkins. Top-seeded UTSA lost to ninth-seeded Rice 62-58 in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Monday, March 10, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Jordyn Jenkins will lead the UTSA Roadrunners into the WBIT against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Aston’s Roadrunners are scheduled to play their first-round game in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament Thursday night on the homecourt of the Gonzaga Bulldogs, one of the noisiest arenas in college basketball.

So, in the last UTSA practice before the team travels to Spokane, Wash., she wanted her players to experience the adversity, speak up and communicate with one another.

They’ll need to do that to win at the 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic Center, otherwise known as the “The Kennel.”

Standing on the court at the Convo Tuesday on an otherwise sleepy afternoon on campus, the noise in the old building almost sounded like a construction site. It isn’t the first time Aston has used sound effects to get her players’ attention.

“We have done that periodically throughout the year,” Aston said. “It’s interesting, but I told the group, it’s sort of like a full-circle moment. In our preparation for our first game of the year, we knew it was Education Day at Texas A&M.

“They had about 5,000 screaming kids. So it feels like a full-circle moment. Obviously we hope this is not our last game. We’re not planning on it being, but it kind of felt that way as this is how we started, and here we are again.”

UTSA forward Jordyn Jenkins said it was fun to run through a practice with the noise cranked up to high levels.

“You know, it was a little different,” she said. “We got to prepare for everything. We have to make sure we’re communicating on the court. So, that was just something to test us a little bit.”

The Roadrunners will be tested in many ways as they enter their second national tournament in the past two seasons. After winning the regular-season title in the American Athletic Conference at 17-1, they dropped their opener in the AAC tournament at Fort Worth.

A 62-58 loss to the ninth-seeded Rice Owls in the quarterfinals sent them home much earlier than they wanted. By the weekend, the pain continued as they were left out of the NCAA tournament. On top of that, they didn’t even get the reward of a first-round game in the WBIT, despite a program-best 26-4 record on the season.

“We did have a tough loss, obviously, in the tournament,” Jenkins said. “But, we had a little break and, you know, we think we can make a run in this tournament. It’s just about being together, staying together and realizing that not a lot of teams are playing in March right now. So, we need to be grateful and get this dub (victory).”

Asked what it takes to rebound from disappointment, Jenkins said, “honestly, just a little time.”

“You know, I always say time heals,” she said. “And it really does. I spent a little time at home back in Seattle. It was good to feel the rain and breathe the fresh air before I got back here and got back to work.”

Coincidentally, she returned to San Antonio, only to find out Sunday evening in a team gathering that the Roadrunners would be traveling back to Washington state for their first game. She said her family plans to make the trip. “They already booked their flights,” Jenkins said.

The Roadrunners and the Bulldogs have had similar experiences this season. UTSA has had a 10-game winning streak and had a 19-1 record in their last 20 games leading into the AAC tournament, only to lose their AAC tournament opener. Gonzaga had a 14-game winning streak and had a 16-1 record in their last 17 going into the West Coast tournament, losing its opener to Oregon State.

In addition, while Jenkins tops the Roadrunners in scoring and in several other categories, Gonzaga forward Yvonne Ejim leads the Bulldogs. Ejim, at 6-foot-1, averages 20.6 points and 8.9 rebounds. Not only is she a 52 percent shooter from the field, she also paces the Bulldogs with 38 steals and 31 blocked shots.

“They’re a post-oriented team, and they’re really good rebounders,” Jenkins said. “So, it’s going to be a fight in the paint.”

Records

UTSA 26-4
Gonzaga 22-10

Coming up

UTSA at Gonzaga, Thursday, 8 p.m., WBIT first round

UTSA’s Aston ‘grateful’ for the opportunity to play in the WBIT

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA women’s basketball coach Karen Aston on Monday acknowledged the disappointment of coming up short in the team’s quest to reach the NCAA tournament, but she said she feels “extremely blessed and pleased we’re still playing.”

Karen Aston. The UTSA women's basketball teams celebrates at the Convocation Center after winning the 2024-25 American Athletic Conference regular-season title on Saturday, March 1, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Coach Karen Aston Roadrunners will take a 26-4 record into a first-round WBIT game Thursday at Gonzaga. – File photo by Joe Alexander

The Roadrunners will play in the 32-team Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, opening on the road Thursday against the Gonzaga Bulldogs in Spokane, Wash. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. Central time.

It’s the second straight season that the Roadrunners have reached a national postseason tournament after last year’s squad competed in the WNIT.

“The fact that we were able to take another step this year and elevate the tournament that we’re playing in is a huge accomplishment for this program, in a short period of time,” said Aston, who is in her fourth season at UTSA. “So, just thankful (for the opportunity). I could say a lot of things about disappointment (and) all of those things of not making the (NCAA) tournament. But at the end of the day you wake up and you’re grateful for what you have and to still be playing.”

Last year, UTSA played at home in the WNIT’s opening round and knocked off Northern Colorado for the first national tournament victory in school history. The Roadrunners lost in the second round in a road game at Wyoming.

UTSA bid for three home games in this year but was dispatched to play in the state of Washington against the Bulldogs, who were co-champions (at 22-10, 17-3) of the West Coast Conference. In the WBIT, teams were seeded 1-4 in each of four quadrants of the bracket. The Bulldogs drew a No. 4 seed. The Roadrunners (26-4, 17-1) were not seeded after winning the American Athletic Conference regular-season title outright.

Both Gonzaga and UTSA went 0-1 in the respective conference tournaments, with the Bulldogs losing to Oregon State in the WCC semifinals and the Roadrunners falling to Rice in the AAC quarterfinals.

Asked how she felt about being slotted into the WBIT bracket, Aston said, “I feel good about the team. You know, I don’t have any qualms about us going on the road. Obviously, like you said, we went 17-1. We have the ability to have some road toughness about us, or we wouldn’t have accomplished what we did. So I feel very confident in that. You know, very disappointed that we’re not hosting for our players, our staff, all the people that made our home environment really special, that we could go undefeated (at home).

“Not sure I have an answer for why we’re not hosting when you look at four or five teams that are that are that we have a better NET (ranking and) we won our league. But as I told our players, everything doesn’t always end up the way you expect it to or want it to. And you have to respond to that. And that’s a life lesson and a life skill that comes in pretty handy along your way.”

The Roadrunners have experienced two major disappointments over the past week — first, losing in the AAC tournament and then, second, gathering on Sunday to get confirmation that they would not, after all, be playing in the NCAA tournament. Even for a team as talented as the Roadrunners, it may be a challenge for them to re-set and prepare for the WBIT in the wake of all the emotion.

“You have to dig into your competitive juices a little bit,” Aston said. “And I think for our program, every single step that we take — I mean, we got a postseason win last year. This is a very, very competitive tournament. There are multiple teams that should have played in the NCAA that are in this tournament. So there’s a ton that we’re playing for. We’re graduating two players (in Jordyn Jenkins and Nine De Leon Negron). So, what are the rest of them learning in this experience of what it feels like to be continuing to play in March.

“Like I told them, some people are done two weeks ago and (are) on the beach somewhere. For us to understand what it feels like to continue to grind and prepare and take care of your bodies and stay in the gym, like, all of those are learning experiences for young players. And if you’ve got six or seven, or five or six, or whatever we had, who had never even experienced what a Selection Show was, then there’s a lot of learning still ahead for our group.”

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the start time of UTSA’s game at Gonzaga. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. Central time on Thursday.

UTSA women will travel to play Gonzaga in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament

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UTSA will play on the road against the Gonzaga Bulldogs Thursday night in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament.

The NCAA-sponsored tournament is in its second season of existence. Officials announced its 32-team field Sunday night and paired UTSA (26-4) against Gonzaga (22-10) as one of 16 first-round matchups.

The NCAA field of 68 was announced earlier Sunday night. As expected, UTSA did not get an invitation to play in the most prestigious of the tournaments in women’s college basketball. The WBIT is next, followed by the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, or WNIT. UTSA reached the second round of the WNIT last season.

This year, the Roadrunners went 26-3 in the regular season and 17-1 to win the American Athletic Conference, only to fall to the Rice Owls, 62-58, in the first round of the conference tournament.

UTSA likely needed to sweep three games at the AAC tournament to earn a bid into the NCAA field.

Going into its second year, the WBIT is owned and funded by the NCAA, and the first four teams out of the NCAA DI women’s basketball tournament — as determined by the DI women’s basketball selection committee — receive an automatic bid into the WBIT and also receive the first four seeds.

Regular-season champions of DI conferences not otherwise selected for the NCAA DI women’s basketball tournament also automatically qualify (if eligible and not reclassifying institutions). The remaining field is made up of at-large teams chosen by the WBIT selection committee.

In the WBIT, UTSA will need to win five games to win the title. All first-round games are Thursday night. The second round is a week from today, on March 23, followed by the third round on March 27.

If a team wins three games, it would move on to Indianapolis for the semifinals on March 31. The tournament finals are set for April 2. Semifinals and finals will be played at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on the Butler University campus.

Texas sneaks in to the field of 68, joining Houston, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Baylor in the NCAA men’s tournament

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Five teams from the state of Texas have made the 68-team NCAA men’s basketball tournament field. The biggest surprise was the 15-loss Texas Longhorns, who will play in the Midwest Region in a First Four, or, a round of 68 game, against Xavier (Ohio) on Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio.

The Longhorns (19-15) are one of a record 14 teams from the Southeastern Conference to make the NCAA field.

Xavier (21-11) is a Big East team based in Cincinnati, Ohio, meaning the Musketeers will only need to travel about 48 miles to the game site at the Dayton Arena. The winner will advance to round of 64 on Friday against Illinois in Milwaukee.

Games involving Texas teams on Thursday will be:

*Big 12 regular season and tournament champion Houston (30-4) against SIU Edwardsville (22-11) at Wichita, Kan., in the Midwest region. The winner would get either Gonzaga or Georgia in the Round of 32;
*Texas Tech (25-8) against the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (27-7), also at Wichita, in the West. The winner would draw either Missouri or Drake in the Round of 32;
*Texas A&M (22-10) against Drake (22-7) at Denver, in the South. The winner would play either Michigan or UC San Diego in the Round of 32.

Games involving Texas teams on Friday will be:

*Baylor (19-14) against Mississippi State (21-12) at Raleigh, N.C. in the East. The winner would advance to play either top-seeded Duke or 16 seeds American or Mount St. Mary’s.

AAC men’s tournament: East Carolina ends UTSA’s season, 70-65

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The season is over for the UTSA men’s basketball team. The East Carolina Pirates held off the Roadrunners in a thriller that went down to the final seconds, winning 70-65 in the second round of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth.

As a result, the sixth-seeded and 19-13 Pirates completed a 3-0 sweep of the Roadrunners this season and will advance to play in the quarterfinals Friday night against the three seed UAB Blazers.

No. 11 UTSA finished its first season under Coach Austin Claunch at 12-19 overall and 6-12 in conference. Last year’s team finished 11-21 and 5-13 and then had all but one of its scholarship players leave in the wake of Steve Henson’s dismissal as head coach.

Coming in from an assistant’s job at Alabama to rebuild from three straight losing seasons, Claunch couldn’t prevent a fourth straight, but he said he felt like the program made progress.

“I’m so proud of this step our program took this year,” said Claunch, who previously won two regular-season titles in a five-year run at Nicholls State in the Southland Conference.

“Certainly,” the coach added, “going from an increase in win total from last year, both total and in conference, I’m proud of the work not just that the record shows, but the work that these guys as a group put in.

“Our seniors, like Primo (Spears) and Damari (Monsanto), they’ve been really fun to coach. If I sit here and talk about ’em too long, I’m going to get emotional. I’m sure I will at some point anyway.”

It’s been an emotional ride all season for the Roadrunners, with two players lost to injury and three others leaving for non-injury related issues during the season. Raekwon Horton was the latest non-injury departure. A major contributor with 12.2 points and 5.9 rebounds, he played his last game on March 1.

Claunch announced on Tuesday, the day UTSA left for Fort Worth, that Horton would not be available for the tournament. It left Claunch with eight scholarship players available. Against the Pirates, seven players played for the Roadrunners, including freshman walkon Baboucarr Njie.

They played hard and with heart but failed to avoid becoming the fourth straight UTSA men’s team to lose its first game in a conference postseason event. A bright spot in the postgame interview came when Roadrunners sophomore Marcus Millender said he would likely return to UTSA next season.

Millender led the Roadrunners against East Carolina with 24 points and seven rebounds.

East Carolina coach Michael Schwartz praised the UTSA coaches and players, calling the Roadrunners “dynamic” and saying that his team for the third time this season was fortunate to win.

The Pirates lost their final regular-season game against the FAU Owls and were able to bounce back, mainly because their players “locked in” during preparation for the trip to Fort Worth, the coach said.

“Everybody kept asking about playing a team for a third time, and we said that is irrelevant,” Schwartz said. “That’s not what makes this game hard, playing UTSA a third time. What makes this game hard is playing UTSA because they’re a really good team. So that’s where our focus was, preparing as if this was the first time we played them.”

Starting with a Feb. 5 home game against Tulane, UTSA played nine games decided by single-digit margins and lost eight of them. In a maddening finish to that stretch of heartbreak, the Pirates rallied from a four-point deficit with 11:47 left and rode the hot hands of Jordan Riley and RJ Felton to claim the victory.

After ECU caught up and forged a three-point advantage with 2:35 left, UTSA responded with a few defensive stops and five points from Millender to reclaim the lead. The Roadrunners had a one-point edge with 1:17 remaining when Millender drove baseline for a layup and a 63-62 lead. In turn, Felton muscled inside to spark a 6-2 run into the final seconds of the game.

East Carolina, with a three-point advantage, called time with 6.1 seconds left. As UTSA inbounded the ball to Jonnivius Smith, the Pirates elected to foul on the catch. The ploy worked, as Smith missed the front end of a one and one. The Pirates rebounded, and Jayshayne Woodard ended up dunking for the game’s final points.

Individuals

UTSA – Marcus Millender scored 24 points on nine of 20 shooting from the field. He was two of five from three. Spears, who fell late in the game and hurt his surgically-repaired left arm, went to the bench momentarily but later returned to finish it on the court. A second-team, all-conference performer, he finished with 19 points. Damari Monsanto hit five threes and scored 17. Both Millender and Monsanto pulled down seven boards each. Jonnivius Smith had three points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

East Carolina – Jordan Riley led the Pirates with 22 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-foot-4 Temple transfer sparked the Pirates in the second half with a few monster dunks. Guard RJ Felton had 17 points and Cam Hayes 16

First half

Tempers flared at the end of the half as East Carolina forward CJ Walker bumped into Njie as players were leaving the floor. Despite poor shooting, the Pirates led the Roadrunners 34-28 at the break. At the end of the halftime break, it was announced that Walker had been hit with a technical foul. The Roadrunners were awarded free throws and hit both without any time having run off the clock

Records

UTSA 12-19, 6-12
East Carolina 19-13, 10-8

Notable

UTSA entered the tournament looking for its first win in a conference postseason game since 2021 when the Roadrunners beat the Charlotte 49ers 72-62 as members of Conference USA. That was the fourth and final season for former Roadrunners stars Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace.

The Roadrunners lost their tournament openers in 2022, 2023 and 2024, all by margins of three points or less. In 2022, Southern Miss defeated UTSA, 67-64. In 2023, Rice eked out a 72-71 victory over the Roadrunners. Both of those contests came in the C-USA postseason. Last season, the Roadrunners lost to Temple, 64-61, to cap their first season in the American.

In the past four years, the Roadrunners have finished 10-22, 10-22, 11-21 and now 12-19, giving the program 10 losing seasons in its last 13. UTSA hasn’t qualified for the NCAA tournament since 2011. The 14-year drought is the longest in school history. The Roadrunners, who started play in 1981-82, made NCAA tournaments in 1988, 1999, 2004 and 2011.

UTSA guard Primo Spears fell late in the East Carolina game and injured a left arm that was badly damaged eight years ago. But, after coming out for a short time, he returned to play the final minute. After the game, he said he was OK.

In 2017, in between his freshman and sophomore year of high school, Spears had surgery following a nasty fall in a summer all-star game in New York City. Spears dislocated his left elbow, fractured the radial bone and tore ligaments, an injury that required at least three surgeries to repair and knocked him out all of his sophomore year.

This season, the Roadrunners appeared to have momentum going into February. A 54-50 road victory against 23-win North Texas capped a 4-5 record in the AAC at the halfway point of the schedule. But they struggled to hold leads in close games down the stretch and finished in a three-way tie for ninth.

Baseball: Liddington homers twice as UIW ends UTSA’s 14-game winning streak

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Rob Liddington Jr. produced six RBIs Tuesday night with two home runs and a double, powering the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals past UTSA 8-5 at Roadrunner Field.

Liddington, from Phoenix, Ariz., was nearly a one-man wrecking crew as UIW snapped UTSA’s school-record 14-game winning streak.

He hit a solo home run to right field in the fourth inning, which was followed immediately by a Rey Mendoza solo homer. Liddington added a three-run double in the fifth and then followed with a two-run homer in the eighth.

Lefthander Gus McKay (1-0) pitched seven innings to earn the victory.

Keeping the Roadrunners off balance with a breaking pitch and a moving fastball, McKay allowed three runs — two of them earned — on four hits. He walked three, hit five batters and struck out three.

UIW righty Jonah Posey was charged with two runs on two hits in closing out the game in the eighth and ninth innings.

UTSA righthander James Hubbard (1-2) worked the first four and a third innings and was tagged with the loss. He yielded six runs, four of them earned, on seven hits.

Trailing by six runs after Liddington belted his team-leading ninth homer of the season in the eighth inning, the Roadrunners rallied with two outs to score three times in the bottom half.

James Taussig laced a two-run single to left and Mason Lytle added another hit for an RBI to make it 8-5.

At that point, Posey ended the threat when he got Drew Detlefsen to ground into a force play. In the ninth, Posey retired three straight to close out the game.

With the win, UIW improved to 9-8 on the season and 1-4 on the road. UTSA dropped to 15-4 and 13-1 at home.

Records

Incarnate Word 9-8
UTSA 15-4

Coming up

UIW at Tarleton State, Wednesday, 2 p.m.
UTSA at Dallas Baptist, Friday, 6 p.m.

Notable

The Cardinals’ last win in the series between San Antonio’s two NCAA Division I baseball programs came at their home ball park in April of 2023 when Rey Mendoza hit a three-run, walk-off homer for a 9-6 victory.

Last season, UTSA beat UIW twice, once on the road and once at home. After Tuesday night’s game, the Roadrunners lead the all-time series, 20-13.

UTSA is 13-7 at home against UIW. The Cardinals’ last win at Roadrunner Field came in 2016.

Raekwon Horton won’t play for UTSA in AAC tournament

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Raekwon Horton at UTSA men's basketball senior day 2025.

Raekwon Horton averaged 12.2 points and 5.9 rebounds in 34 minutes per game for the Roadrunners. His most memorable moment came when he scored a season-high 23 in UTSA’s 54-50 road victory over the North Texas on Feb. 1.

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

If the UTSA Roadrunners men’s basketball team hopes to make noise in the American Athletic Conference postseason tournament, they’ll have to do it without senior forward Raekwon Horton.

“He won’t be with us on the trip and obviously you won’t see Raekwon for the rest of the year,” UTSA coach Austin Claunch said.

Primo Spears. Memphis beat UTSA 75-70 in American Athletic Conference men's basketball on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Primo Spears was named second-team all conference in the AAC on Tuesday. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Claunch made his remarks on Tuesday afternoon, just before the Roadrunners boarded a bus and headed for Fort Worth.

While the AAC men’s tournament opens in Denton on Wednesday, the remainder of the tournament starting Thursday will be in Fort Worth at Dickies Arena.

The 11th-seeded Roadrunners will play their first game Thursday at 8 p.m. against the No. 6 East Carolina Pirates. It’ll be the fourth of four second-round games played that day.

Horton played a major role for the Roadrunners in his one and only year with the program, averaging 12.2 points and 5.9 rebounds in 34 minutes.

He played 25 games, notched three games with 20 or more points, produced 13 in double figures and added four with double-figure points and rebounds.

His most memorable contribution came on Feb. 1 when he scored a season-high 23 points as the Roadrunners upset the North Texas Mean Green 54-50 in Denton.

The Mean Green went on to construct a 23-7 season, including 14-4 in the AAC, good for a No. 2 seed in the tournament.

Horton played his last game for the Roadrunners on March 2.

In his finale, he was honored on Senior Day in a pre-game ceremony. Then he started and played 19 minutes as the Roadrunners routed the Rice Owls, 84-56. Horton finished with two points and seven rebounds.

He has not played in UTSA’s last two games, including a five-point loss at home to AAC champion Memphis and a three-point road victory at Charlotte. Claunch said after the Memphis game that Horton was away from the team on personal leave.

Without Horton at the tournament, the Roadrunners likely will play with a seven-man rotation initially, though others could be pressed into action if they get hot and start to win.

“We feel good,” Claunch said. “We’ve won two out of three, and even during that losing streak, we felt like we played some really good ball. I know that’s easy to say. You got to find a way to win those games.

“That’s sort of the next progression of our program. Not just be in big games but find a way to win big games.

“It was great to finally win one of those close ones at Charlotte. We played really well against Memphis. We played great against Rice. And now we’re playing a good ECU team that we played two really competitive games against.

“So, we’re certainly excited to get on the bus and go compete.”

To win the tournament, the Roadrunners would need to win four games in four consecutive days. If they beat the Pirates on Thursday, they would play the No. 3 UAB Blazers on Friday at 8 p.m.

Potentially they would play No. 2 seed North Texas on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the semifinals. The finals would be played on Sunday at 2:15 p.m.

Records

East Carolina 10-8, 18-23
UTSA 6-12, 12-18

Coming up

UTSA vs. East Carolina, Thursday, at 8 p.m., at Fort Worth, Dickies Arena
(AAC tournament second-round game)

Notable

Guard Primo Spears was the only UTSA player honored in the AAC’s postseason awards announced on Tuesday. Spears, from Hartford, Conn., was named second-team all conference. He averaged 19.8 points and 4.0 assists.

Guard Marcus Millender enjoyed the best season of any UTSA player not named in conference’s honors list.

He averaged 14.6 points, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals. Since Jan. 11, Millender played 16 games, scored in double figures in all of them and notched at least 20 seven times.

In his first season at UTSA coach, Austin Claunch has led the Roadrunners to a 12-win season going into the tournament.

Though two of the victories came against sub-Division I competition, it’s the most total wins for a Roadrunners team since the 2020-21 season when they finished 15-11 under a previous staff led by former head coach Steve Henson.

The six conference victories are also the most for a UTSA team since the ’20-21 ball club posted a 9-7 record in Conference USA. That was the last season for former four-year UTSA standouts Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace, the Nos. 1 and 2 scorers in school history.

Rice women upset top-seeded UTSA in AAC tournament

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UTSA forward Jordyn Jenkins, the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, scored a game-high 22 points as the Roadrunners fell to the Rice Owls in the AAC tournament quarterfinals. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Rice women’s basketball team cooked up some of its American Athletic Conference postseason magic on Monday in Fort Worth, upsetting the top-seeded UTSA Roadrunners, 62-58.

As a result, the No. 9 Owls will move into the semifinals with two victories under their belt, hoping to repeat last year’s four-game run that ended with a trophy for the AAC crown and a ticket to the NCAA tournament.

The loss leaves UTSA’s postseason destination in question.

At 26-4, the Roadrunners will hope for an at-large bid into the NCAA. But perhaps a more realistic path forward will lead to the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, or, the WBIT.

Guard Sidney Love matched her jersey number with 11 points and had five assists for the Roadrunners. – Photo by Joe Alexander

As the AAC’s regular-season champions, UTSA is an automatic qualifier for the WBIT and is expected to play in it should the program not receive the NCAA invitation.

On Monday morning, UTSA earned mention as a team receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time in the program’s 44-year history.

In turn, Rice seemed undeterred by the prospect of facing a team that had won nine straight games and had swept through the AAC regular season with a 17-1 record.

For the most part, the Owls carried the fight to the Roadrunners in the game played at Dickies Arena.

Rice outplayed UTSA in both the second and third quarters and then withstood a UTSA charge in the fourth to salt away the victory.

“I’m just really, really proud of our fight and our preparation for this game today,” Rice coach Lindsay Edmonds said. “We had a little bit of a get-back mentality. We’ve had two battles (with UTSA) this season that we felt could have (gone) our way but didn’t.”

In the first of two regular-season meetings, UTSA roared from behind with a 24-9 fourth quarter to beat the Owls 67-58 on Jan. 8 in San Antonio.

In the rematch, on Feb. 22 in Houston, UTSA jumped out to a 22-6 lead deep into the first quarter and then held on to win 57-55 when Rice’s Dominique Ennis missed a three at the buzzer.

“Today we wanted to play 40 minutes, and we did that,” Edmonds said. “It was a well-balanced attack … a great win. Really, really impressed with our composure and poise.”

Karen Aston. Rice 62-58 in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Monday, March 10, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Coach Karen Aston’s Roadrunners will leave Fort Worth with a 26-4 record. They’re guaranteed a bid in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament if they don’t get an at-large bid to the NCAA, – Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA started a run at the outset of the fourth quarter, scoring the first eight points in an 11-3 stretch over five minutes and 20 seconds. When Jordyn Jenkins hit a driving layup, the Roadrunners pulled to within 52-51 with 4:40 remaining.

From there, Rice guard Victoria Flores nailed two three-point shots to ignite an 8-0 run, lifting the Owls into a 60-51 advantage and sending UTSA into scramble mode.

In the final 1:41, the Roadrunners could get no closer than the final margin of four, and that came with no time left on the clock when Jenkins followed in a missed three at the buzzer.

“Sometimes you need a little time to reflect on a loss like this,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “(Rice) played with a lot of intention, a lot of energy today, and we couldn’t seem to match it.

“We tried. I thought there were times that we tried to rally ourselves in timeouts, but we just couldn’t match the energy they played with.”

Senior Malia Fisher led the way for the Owls with a team-high 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Fisher assisted on the three that gave the Owls the late nine-point lead.

Also, freshman Aniah Alexis enjoyed her second strong tournament game with 15 points and nine rebounds. Ennis scored 13.

For the Roadrunners, Jenkins scored 22 points but missed her first eight field goal attempts and finished nine of 25 from the floor. The AAC Player of the Year also had seven rebounds and two steals.

Cheyenne Rowe scored 12 points on five-for-five shooting, and guard Sidney Love added 11. Nina De Leon Negron struggled, shooting zero for nine from the field. She produced two points, six rebounds, three assists and a couple of steals.

Records

Rice 16-16
UTSA 26-4

Coming up

The NCAA bracket will be revealed on Sunday. If the Roadrunners don’t get a bid, they’re expected to play in the WBIT. First-round WBIT games are scheduled for March 20.

First half

Fisher and Alexis combined for 18 points in the first half as the Owls took a 32-28 lead on the UTSA Roadrunners.

Nina De Leon Negron. Top-seeded UTSA lost to ninth-seeded Rice 62-58 in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Monday, March 10, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA point guard Nina De Leon Negron had two points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. She shot zero for nine from the field. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Rice held Jenkins scoreless in the first period and for much of the second before Jenkins came alive with seven before halftime.

Both teams went without scoring a point for almost the first three minutes of the game before UTSA’s Idara Udo hit a jumper with 7:14 remaining.

UTSA kept battling and forged a five-point advantage with 39 seconds left on a Cheyenne Rowe driving layup.

Fisher, who scored eight in the quarter, hit a shot at the end to bring Rice to within 13-11.

In the second quarter, the Owls picked up the pace, with Alexis stroking jumpers from the perimeter.

The freshman from Cypress Lakes High School in Waller scored eight in the quarter.

Notable

Rice played on Sunday in the second round and advanced through to the quarterfinals with a 76-63 victory over the UAB Blazers. In that game, Alexis led the Owls with 18 points and five rebounds.

UTSA was playing its first game in the tournament, as it had claimed a double bye to the quarterfinals by way of a top-four finish in the regular season.

The Roadrunners had reached the conference tournament semifinals in each of the past two seasons, in Conference USA in 2022-23 and in their first year in the American last year.

Cheyenne Rowe. Top-seeded UTSA lost to ninth-seeded Rice 62-58 in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Monday, March 10, 2025. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Forward Cheyenne Rowe hit five for five from the field and scored 12 points off the bench. – Photo by Joe Alexander