UTSA takes down Charlotte 81-80 in double OT on Udo’s winner

UTSA's Idara Udo celebrates after time runs out in the Roadrunners' double-overtime victory. She made the winning basket as UTSA beat Charlotte 81-80 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Idara Udo celebrates after time runs out in the Roadrunners’ double-overtime victory. She made the winning basket as UTSA beat Charlotte 81-80 in American Athletic Conference women’s basketball on Sunday at the Convocation Center. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Freshman Idara Udo rebounded a miss and hit a short follow-up for the game winner at the buzzer Sunday afternoon, lifting the UTSA Roadrunners to an 81-80, double-overtime victory over the Charlotte 49ers.

With the victory, the Roadrunners (9-7, 3-2) made a statement in the American Athletic Conference. In winning their third straight, they knocked off the 49ers (11-6, 4-1) who entered the contest leading the AAC standings.

UTSA's Idara Udo grabs an offensive rebound and goes back up to score the winning basket with one second left in the second overtime. UTSA beat Charlotte 81-80 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA’s Idara Udo grabs an offensive rebound and goes back up to score the winning basket with one second left in the second overtime. Udo finished with a career-high 26 points. She also had nine rebounds, including six on the offensive end. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“I couldn’t be more proud of a group of girls,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “We faced a lot of adversity throughout the game … I thought we were resilient. A lot of players made plays.”

The final minute of the game became an emotional roller coaster for everyone involved at the UTSA Convocation Center.

Charlotte’s Keanna Rembert missed the second of two free throws with 48 seconds left to leave the score tied, 77-all, prompting UTSA to call a timeout.

Afterward, former Judson High School standout Kyra White drove and passed off to the side, where Hailey Atwood made the catch and calmly drained a mid-range jumper for a two-point lead.

Following a 30-second timeout by Charlotte, the 49ers came up with their own big play, with Dazia Lawrence feeding Jacee Busick, who knocked down a three. The shot with 13 seconds left lifted the 49ers into an 80-79 lead.

Pushing the ball up the court, UTSA had White coming at the Charlotte defense again. She fired a jumper and missed. In a battle under the boards, Udo snared the rebound and hit the winner from point-blank range.

“I was just thinking of giving my team an advantage,” Udo said. “I had two opportunities earlier in the regular period and the first overtime to capitalize, and I didn’t. So I knew that whenever I had a chance the third time, I was going to capitalize. Third time’s the charm.”

Aysia Proctor. UTSA beat Charlotte 81-80 in double overtime in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA freshman guard Aysia Proctor produced 17 points and 13 rebounds against Charlotte. – Photo by Joe Alexander

When the horn sounded, UTSA players circled Udo and bounced up and down, with the freshman shouting in the exhilaration of the moment.

Asked about the celebration, White’s comments were measured and were delivered with some humility. She brought up the first two games that UTSA played on its AAC schedule, when the Roadrunners lost at Temple and East Carolina.

“It felt good,” White said of the celebration. “I think our first two conference games, honestly, I’m just going to come out and say that we weren’t prepared for the physicality or what the American conference looked like.

“I think now that we’ve got our feet back under us, just keep ’em rolling, to help us going into the next game against a very good team as well.”

Next up for UTSA is a Tuesday night home game against the South Florida Bulls, the preseason favorite in the conference.

Udo led the Roadrunners in scoring with a career-high 26 points, and she also pulled down nine rebounds, including six on the offensive end. Udo, from Plano, hit nine of 13 shots from the field.

Another freshman, guard Aysia Proctor from San Antonio-area Clemens High School, also produced a strong effort. Proctor had 17 points, 13 rebounds and three steals. She hit five of six from the 3-point arc. Elyssa Coleman, who fouled out, finished with 12.

White nearly pulled off a triple double with nine points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. White played a team-high 44 minutes.

For Charlotte, center Tracey Hueston enjoyed a big day of her own. Hueston scored a game-high 27 points. The 6-foot-2 transfer from the University of Pittsburgh stepped outside to make four of four from beyond the 3-point arc.

Kyra White. UTSA beat Charlotte 81-80 in double overtime in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Kyra White nearly had a triple double with nine points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. She played a team-high 44 minutes. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Lawrence and Busick had 12 points each, and Imani Smith had 11. Lawrence entered the game with some notoriety as the AAC’s Player of the Week last week.

She had 24 points in a victory at Rice on Thursday. But UTSA did a good job on her, bringing double-team help even when she was on the perimeter.

Faced with the pressure, she hit only three of 17 from the field. Lawrence’s biggest moment came at the end of the first overtime when she made a 15-footer at the buzzer to tie the game at 68.

Records

Charlotte 11-6, 4-1
UTSA 9-7, 3-2

Coming up

South Florida at UTSA, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.

First half

Sparked by a Madison Cockrell-led defense, the Roadrunners outscored the 49ers by seven in the second quarter and took a 29-25 lead at intermission.

Cockrell fueled a 6-0 UTSA run in the opening minute and a half of the second quarter. After Coleman hit a jumper to open the period, Cockrell jumped in front of Olivia Porter and drew a charge.

On the other end, Udo sank a 12-foot jumper. Subsequently, Cockrell forced another turnover, which led to another bucket by Udo and a 13-12 lead for the Roadrunners, their first since early in the first quarter.

Udo led UTSA in scoring at the half with 11 points. She hit four for four from the field. Coleman also contributed with eight points on four of seven shooting.

Lawrence and Hueston led Charlotte with six points apiece. Lawrence was limited to one for seven shooting. UTSA at times ran a double team at Lawrence, even on the perimeter.

Hailey Atwood. UTSA beat Charlotte 81-80 in double overtime in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Senior Hailey Atwood took only four shots in the game but she hit a key jumper off the side with 20 seconds left in the game. – Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA women set to host Wichita State on Saturday afternoon

Madison Cockrell. UTSA beat Charlotte 60-54 in a Conference USA women's basketball game Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Sophomore guard Madison Cockrell says the UTSA Roadrunners took “to heart” their first two losses in the American Athletic Conference. She says that, as a result, players know that they need to change some things to get back on course. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

After an 0-2 start in the American Athletic Conference, players on the UTSA women’s basketball squad felt the harsh sting of disappointment.

First, they dropped a 71-58 decision at Temple last Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia in the first AAC game in program history.

Next, they journeyed to Greenville, N.C., and were humbled again, falling 82-54 to the East Carolina Pirates.

Even though the Pirates won the AAC postseason title last season and were a preseason pick to finish second in the conference this year, the Roadrunners were downcast.

A proud group of athletes, they wanted and expected to be better, and they just weren’t.

“For me, I definitely thought about it throughout the night and the next day,” UTSA sophomore Madison Cockrell said. “I know for my teammates, it was the same thing. But we can’t dwell on the past. We can only learn from our mistakes and move forward and get ready for our next game.”

The Roadrunners will get that opportunity on Saturday afternoon when they play host to the Wichita State Shockers.

Tipoff between UTSA (6-7, 0-2) and Wichita State (5-9, 1-1) is set for 2 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

Cockrell said she feels good about the team’s preparation the past few days.

“I think our last few practices, we have been executing and working on practicing how we’re going to play in the game,” she said. “We took our first two conference losses to heart, and we are starting to change things.”

At that, she smiled, and nodded her head in the affirmative.

“(We’re) going hard every day in practices,” she said. “Playing hard. Paying attention to details. Studying the scout. Getting ready for Saturday.”

When the game in Greenville got away from the Roadrunners Tuesday afternoon, UTSA coaches elected to play some players who haven’t seen much time this season.

Cockrell, who notched a season high of 17 minutes and produced career highs of 13 points and three steals, caught the attention of the UTSA coaches.

So did freshman guard Emma Lucio, who notched a season high of 21 minutes. Lucio, from Edinburg, finished with three points, three rebounds and two assists.

“Opportunity is what you do with it,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said Friday morning, “and I thought those two kids did something with their opportunity the other night, and they’re going to get rewarded with more playing time tomorrow.”

Following Friday’s practice, a few other personnel questions loomed.

First, will Aysia Proctor be able to play against the Shockers? Well, maybe.

Asked Friday morning about Proctor’s status for Wichita State, Aston was non-committal, offering only that, “she’ll be fine.” By Friday afternoon, a positive sign on Proctor emerged at practice when the freshman from Clemens took part in five-on-five drills.

The second question is one that has been percolating for months now. It involves standout forward Jordyn Jenkins, who hasn’t played at all this season.

Jenkins went through light shooting drills both on her own and briefly with the team Friday afternoon. At the same time, Jenkins, who won Conference USA Player of the Year honors in 2022-23, did not take part in any of the team’s five-on-five contact work.

She is rehabilitating an injured knee.

Notable

The UTSA men are also looking for their first AAC victory. The Roadrunners will try to get it Saturday afternoon in Houston against the Rice Owls. The Roadrunners (6-8, 0-1) and the Owls (6-8, 0-1) are set to play at the University of St. Thomas, with tipoff set for 2 p.m. The game was moved off the Rice campus because of water damage at Tudor Fieldhouse. Injured UTSA guard Adante’ Holiman isn’t expected to play. Holiman turned his ankle in the second half of Tuesday night’s 78-76 loss to the UAB Blazers in San Antonio.

Correction

An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the score of UTSA’s Tuesday night game in Greenville, N.C. The score has been changed in the story to reflect East Carolina’s 82-54 victory over UTSA in women’s college basketball.

Aston says freshman Sidney Love is in the mix to start at point guard for UTSA

Sidney Love at UTSA women's basketball practice at the Convocation Center on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. - photo by Joe Alexander

Sidney Love was the player of the year in the San Antonio area last season at Cibolo Steele High School. She averaged 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as a senior. – Photo by Joe Alexander

As Karen Aston moves into her second season as head coach in charge of the UTSA women’s basketball program, a compelling narrative has emerged during early practices for the Roadrunners.

A freshman could lead them.

Aston said Tuesday that freshman Sidney Love from Cibolo Steele High School is in the running to start at point guard.

Love is battling in early fall semester practices with senior Deborah Nwakamma, as well as with freshmen Madison Cockrell and Siena Guttadauro.

“I think right now Sid is the person that we’re going to lean on the most at that position,” Aston said. “I think Deb can play it also. Deb is probably more calm at that position right now and knows more what’s going on. But I would love to play her at the two.

“We just got to let Sid take her lumps and grow and learn the position. She’s doing a good job. I think she’ll get there.”