Tag Archives: Maya Linton

Linton’s return sparks optimism in UTSA women’s basketball camp

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Maya Linton. UTSA beat North Texas 54-52 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Forward Maya Linton returns for her fifth year at UTSA after sitting out last season with a knee injury. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA fifth-year senior guard Maya Linton caught the ball off the right baseline, pulled up and popped.

Her mid-range jumper thwacked against the backside of the iron and redirected toward the bottom of the net, where it nestled home for two points.

As play continued last Thursday in an up-and-down practice at the new Basketball and Volleyball Training Center, a team of men competing against the Roadrunners’ women pushed the pace in the other direction and misfired on a shot of their own.

Idara Udo. 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

Idara Udo says Maya Linton has worked hard to improve her jump shot. – File photo by Joe Alexander

With the ball coming off the iron, Linton slashed inside to snare the defensive board. The women, as a result, were off to the races the other way. Eventually, the ball swung around to the left corner, where Linton had spotted up beyond the 3-point line.

Swish.

It was an eye-opening sequence for a few media members who came out to watch the open session. Since Linton arrived at UTSA in 2022, she has been known as one of the most tenacious defensive players on the team, perhaps in all of the American Conference, but not much of a scorer.

And now? Exactly what can fans expect to see from her after she sat out her fourth season on campus in knee rehabilitation? Hopefully, an improved player who will bring loads of experience to the team.

“I don’t want to be biased,” UTSA senior forward Idara Udo said. “But Maya’s a dawg on defense. Everyone knows that. Just the way she can move. The way she can pressure the ball. And the way she can make plays on defense, is something that a lot of teams don’t have.

“I think people look to her as a defensive player. But Maya has been in the gym a lot and has worked on her 3-point shot. She’s worked on her reads. Her ball handling. So I think Maya’s one of the best when it comes to defense, for sure.”

Linton can’t remember exactly when she injured her knee. But she said she started to feel that something was wrong near the end of her junior year in 2024-25, when the Roadrunners won the American’s regular season title.

For Linton, who played in high school at both Timber Creek and Duncanville in the DFW area, it was an emotional time.

Joyous in that she was a full-time starter and that the team had finished first in the American at 17-1 and 26-5 overall. But, a little nervous in not knowing what would happen in the offseason.

Looking back, she said she feels like she was “definitely” playing near the end of the year with the injury.

“But it’s the kind of thing, when you love basketball, you’re going to go through it,” she said. “And, also, we were winning. So you kind of put that (pain) in the back of your mind. You got to deal with it at the end of the season, and that’s what I did.”

Karen Aston. UTSA women's basketball at the Convocation Center on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. - photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA coach Karen Aston welcomes the return of both Maya Linton and Taylor Ross, who both suffered injuries and sat out all of last season. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Linton said a postseason medical exam revealed that the anterior cruciate ligament was almost completely torn, leading to a surgery done in the first week of April.

“They told me that if I would keep playing (on it) that it would probably blow out at any minute,” she said. “So I went ahead and got the surgery just as a precaution.”

It was the start of a difficult offseason for the Roadrunners. By fall camp, forwards Taylor Ross and Sema Udo also suffered leg injuries. In all, between six or seven players were unavailable at various times during the season.

Remarkably, the Roadrunners pulled it together in March and stormed to the American’s postseason title, earning a trip to the NCAA tournament.

During the season, Linton attacked rehabilitation aggressively. Part of it was the agonizing work on strengthening the knee. Part of it was on-court drills. Like, just shooting the ball.

Even though she felt supported by the coaches and her teammates, at the same time, she also acknowledged that it was tough on her personally, not being able to contribute on the court.

“It was sad, honestly, for me,” Linton said. “But seeing how my teammates did, I was very, very proud of them. I was trying to be the best teammate I could be. The (previous) year I was a starter, winning all the time.

“But that wasn’t the case last year. So, I had to take on new roles and responsibilities. Just, to be the best teammate I could be on the sideline.”

Sema Udo has yet to return to practice, still working through her rehabilitation. But Linton and Ross are ready to go for the start of the coming season. UTSA coach Karen Aston said the addition of the two will supply a boost.

“I’m super excited about Taylor,” Aston said. “She probably doesn’t know that because I’m on her all the time. But Taylor has a lot of versatility.

“When I watch her, I have to remind myself that her and Maya didn’t play at all last year. Sometimes when I get frustrated, I’m like, well, there’s this learning curve coming back and playing again. They’re both in that right now.

“But I would expect that, barring a setback of any kind with those two, we’ll look a lot different in January than we do right now. They’re getting used to playing basketball again.”

Linton said she is enjoying the grind of practice once again, readying for a new season.

“It feels great,” she said. “Feels like I’ve been gone for so long. You know, (my teammates), they just make it all worthwhile, coming back. To be able to do the things I love with the people I love, just makes it amazing. I’m happy.”

Taylor Ross. The UTSA women's basketball team beat St. Mary's 90-38 in an exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Sophomore forward Taylor Ross is expected to play a prominent role for the Roadrunners, who have won back-to-back titles in the American. The standout from San Antonio Brennan High School is a skilled post player who can step out and shoot from the perimeter. – File photo by Joe Alexander.

Coach touts Maya Linton as ‘the difference’ for UTSA against Tulsa

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Maya Linton. UTSA beat South Florida 65-42 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Maya Linton and others held the leading scorer in the American Athletic Conference to 10 points in Saturday’s 60-53 road victory at Tulsa. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA coach Karen Aston on Monday praised junior forward Maya Linton for her effort on the defensive end in a 60-53 victory Saturday at Tulsa.

Linton held Golden Hurricane star Delanie Crawford to 10 points as Roadrunners won their fifth in a row and improved to a school-record 12-2 record, including 3-0 in the American Athletic Conference. Crawford, the AAC’s leading scorer at the time, was held to 3 of 13 shooting from the field.

“Really proud of our team’s resiliency at Tulsa,” Aston said. “I thought that was a hard-fought game. Both teams played really hard. I just thought that we showed some toughness and resilience in that game, for sure.”

Aston said that Linton, a 5-foot-11 junior from Duncanville, was “the difference in the game.”

“No question about it,” the coach said on her weekly zoom call with the media. “Delanie Crawford is a wonderfully-gifted offensive basketball player. I just thought Maya committed to being unconcerned about other things … and just made it difficult for her to get shots off.”

The coach said “a lot of different people” guarded Crawford but she said Linton sets the tone for the team defensively.

Coming up

As play in the American continues, the UTSA men (6-7, 0-1) will host Tulsa (6-9, 0-2) on Tuesday at 7 in the Convocation Center, and the women will host the defending AAC tournament champion Rice Owls (8-6, 1-1) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

Notable

Despite 17 points and nine rebounds from UTSA forward Raekwon Horton, the short-handed Roadrunners men suffered a 92-63 loss at Tulane on Saturday afternoon. Tulane manufactured a 15-0 run early in the game to take charge. The Green Wave led 47-23 at intermission and by as many as 35 points in the second half.

UTSA played without 6-foot-11 center Mo Njie for the second game in a row. Coach Austin Claunch said that Njie has a foot injury and might be out for between “a couple of weeks” and a month. “Obviously we really, really miss his size,” the coach said. “That’s a tough break. More than that, just the spirit he plays with. He’s (rehabilitating) every day and when we get to that point in February, maybe he can get back in and help us.”

UTSA women start fast this fall in wake of ‘painful’ summer workouts

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Maya Linton. UTSA beat Florida Atlantic 77-61 in Conference USA women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Sophomore forward Maya Linton produced a double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in a Nov. 18 victory at UT Arlington, She is shown here in action last season against the FAU Owls. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

One of the hottest summers on record in San Antonio added an extra layer of adversity to offseason training for the UTSA women’s basketball team.

UTSA forward Maya Linton says that the morning workouts, held both indoors and outdoors, were competitive with players split into two teams.

“It was very bittersweet because it was painful at the time — and it was hard,” Linton said. “But if you look back you say, ‘Hey, we really needed that to succeed right now.’ ”

Lately, the proof is in the results.

Playing without their best player, injured forward Jordyn Jenkins, the Roadrunners have opened the season with a 4-2 record leading into Thursday’s 5 p.m. home game against the Texas State Bobcats.

In addition, UTSA is 3-2 on the road in that stretch, matching the team’s road win total for all of last season. At Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Roadrunners rallied from a 15-point, third-quarter deficit to win in overtime.

At Sam Houston State, last Saturday afternoon, UTSA fell into another hole, falling behind by 11 at the end of the third period. Kyra White and Sidney Love keyed a 30-point fourth-quarter as the Roadrunners pulled it out, 63-56.

“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised, by any means,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “Obviously, with plugging in new lineups and new players and getting to know how they’re going to react to game situations, it’s been a work in progress and it still is.

“But I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m surprised. I wish that we would get off to better starts and not dig holes like we have in a couple of games. But that’s part of being on the road, I think.”

Aston said in the weeks leading into the season that her players had a chance to experience some growth with Jenkins out of the lineup. As it has turned out, post players such as Elyssa Coleman, Idara Udo and Linton have all stepped up to play significant roles.

“There’s no question that opportunity presents itself all the time,” the coach said. “I say this a lot in basketball, and I guess in life it kind of applies, that windows open and they close. What you do with the opportunity and what you do with your time when a window does open, it’s important.”

While Udo has filled in the gaps in the rotation on the front line, another freshman, guard Aysia Proctor, has emerged to supply some timely offense. Proctor is shooting 61 percent from the field.

“We’ve had some freshmen contribute heavily,” Aston said. “I’ve said this all along that the players that returned have improved in some areas that they needed to. We’re still absolutely a work in progress just because we are really young. When you look at who comes off the bench, it’s pretty much all freshmen and sophomores.”

UTSA’s only two losses have come against Power 5 competition, losing by 15 at Arizona State on opening night and by five at Texas Tech last week. Linton said she is excited about the way the team has performed.

“I think we’re more determined to be a unit this year than we were last year,” she said. “So I feel like winning all these games at the beginning of the season, it’s a different look for us, and we’re excited about our future and to be back at our home.”

Linton, a sophomore from Duncanville, had a big game with 15 points and 10 rebounds in a four-point win at UT Arlington. She scored six points in the final three minutes of the first half just as the Mavs were making a push.

Referencing the comeback wins in Corpus Christi and Huntsville, Linton credited the Roadrunners for staying together even when they aren’t playing well.

“Like I say, I think we have a certain unity,” she said. “We just have a connection. It’s like we never have a feeling that, ‘Oh, this time we’re going to lose.’ It’s always a positive, like we’re going to win, no matter what. I think there’s more of a fight this year, and it definitely shows with our record.”

Notebook

The UTSA women are off to their fastest start since the fall of 2012 when they were 5-1 after six games. In 2012, all of the early victories were at home, and one of them came against a sub-Division I level program.

UTSA went on to finish 16-14 in 2012-13, in its one and only season in the Western Athletic Conference.

This fall, all six of UTSA’s games have been contested against D-I opponents. Like in 2012, the Roadrunners are set to play this season in a new conference – the American Athletic Conference — after 10 seasons in Conference USA.

Sophomore Sidney Love leads the Roadrunners in scoring at 13.3 points and also leads the AAC in free-throw percentage (87.9).

Senior Kyra White, who ranks second in the AAC in minutes played at 36 per game, is enjoying a standout season by averaging 11.8 points and 5.5 rebounds. She’s also averaging 3.7 assists (tied for sixth in the conference) and 1.2 steals.

Junior Elyssa Coleman averages 8.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and a conference-leading 2.3 blocks. Coleman has played six games with six starts in the post, with Linton (6.7 points, 6.2 rebounds) playing six and starting five.

Idara Udo (5.8 points, 7.0 rebounds) and Aysia Proctor (8.0 points, 5.0 rebounds) have emerged as players making a significant impact in their first years out of high school.