Tag Archives: Sidney Love

UTSA’s Love says ‘it’s a blessing’ to be alone atop AAC standings

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Sidney Love. UTSA beat Northern Colorado 80-62 in the first round of the WNIT on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Sidney Love and the UTSA Roadrunners have won 14 of their first 16 games this season, including seven in a row, going into an American Athletic Conference game at Memphis Wednesday night. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

If women’s basketball teams in the American Athletic Conference haven’t paid much attention to the UTSA Roadrunners before now, they’re probably starting to take notice.

The Roadrunners (14-2, 5-0) stand alone in first place in the AAC standings going into tonight’s game in Tennessee against the Memphis Tigers.

Last week, UTSA was locked in a two-way tie with South Florida in the early stages of the conference race. But since the Bulls lost on Saturday and again on Tuesday night, the Roadrunners now sit by themselves atop the standings.

Which means, starting tonight, the mindset of UTSA opponents like the Tigers (3-12, 1-3) likely becomes more focused on knocking off the leaders, especially with Memphis fans at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse cheering them on.

“I feel like it’s a blessing to be at the top position,” Roadrunners guard Sidney Love said. “It’ll humble you. It’ll make you want to be consistent, want to stay at the top.

“We’re not really focused on rankings. We’re just playing our basketball, doing what we do best. I feel like if we keep that mentality, then it doesn’t really matter.

“We’re just going to go out there and play our hardest, leave our hearts on the floor and be a winning team at the end of the day.”

Since losing at Stanford on Dec. 16, the Roadrunners have won seven in a row, notching victories over UT Arlington and Texas State in nonconference play, before taking down Charlotte, UAB, Tulsa, Rice and Wichita State in the AAC.

Records

UTSA 14-2, 5-0
Memphis 3-12, 1-3

Coming up

UTSA at Memphis, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
UTSA at UAB, Saturday, 1 p.m.

Notable

In starting the season with a program-best 14-2 record after 16 games, the UTSA women’s basketball team has approached a new milestone in terms of the school’s record book – fastest start in conference play.

After winning two games at home last week against Rice and Wichita State, the Roadrunners improved to 5-0 to lead the AAC.

UTSA has been 5-0 in conference only one other time, in 1983-84, in the program’s third season of play and the first in the Oil Country Athletic Conference.

That year, the Ginny DeHaven-coached and Starlite Williams-led Roadrunners lost at West Texas A&M in Game No. 6 on the OCAC schedule and fell to 5-1, before winning three more for an 8-1 record and the league’s regular-season championship.

So, if UTSA wins at Memphis tonight, it would have both records — the best start to a season and in conference.

Record watch

The school record for the longest winning streak is held by the 2002-03 team, which won 13 in a row.

Eye on Memphis

Tilly Boler, DeeDee Hagemann, Alasia Smith and Tanyuel Welch lead the Tigers. Boler averages 16.9 points and shoots 36.3 percent from three. Hagemann, a Michigan State transfer, averages 12.2 points and 6.2 assists. Smith contributes 12.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals. Welch (10.4 points) and Elauna Eaton are shooting better than 42 percent from three.

UTSA women open two-game road trip at New Mexico State

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The UTSA women will start a two-game road trip at undefeated New Mexico State tonight, with tipoff at 6 p.m. at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces.

The Roadrunners (1-1) suffered shooting woes and lost their opener on the road at Texas A&M last Thursday, falling 55-51. They bounced back behind Sidney Love’s 21 points and 11 assists Saturday at home with a 74-69 victory over UT Rio Grande Valley.

Jordyn Jenkins leads the Roadrunners, averaging 18.5 points, and Love is next at 15.5. But those two may need help on the home court of the Aggies (2-0).

After rolling to a lopsided victory at home in an exhibition game against Division II Cameron, Okla., New Mexico State opened the regular season on the road on Nov. 4 and defeated UC Irvine, 57-49.

Six-foot-one forward Fanta Gassama led the way with 22 points and 16 rebounds to open her second season with the Aggies after two years in junior college. Gassama, from Mataro, Spain, is averaging 15 boards for the season.

Playing at home in their second game last Thursday, the Aggies rolled past Utah Tech 85-63 behind guard Molly Kaiser’s career-high 35 points. Kaiser has 50 points and 11 rebounds in two games.

Records

UTSA 1-1
New Mexico State 2-0

Coming up

UTSA at New Mexico State, tonight at 6 p.m.
UTSA at UTEP, Saturday at noon.

Notable

UTSA beat New Mexico State 58-55 last year in San Antonio. In recruiting, the Roadrunners on Wednesday signed three players for the class of 2025, including 5-5 guard Adriana Robles from Fort Worth Fossil Ridge HS, 6-0 forward Sema Udo from Plano East HS and 6-3 forward Sanaa Bean from Edna Karr HS in New Orleans, La.

Quotable

UTSA coach Karen Aston on starting the season, “I thought it was good to get it kicked off. We played hard and sometimes really, really well at A&M. Fell short. But I think we learned some lessons in that game. And then I thought Saturday against UTRGV was just a well-played game, by both teams. I didn’t think we made a ton of mistakes. I thought it was just two teams that shot the ball pretty well. We were lucky to come out on top on Saturday but I’m pleased to be moving forward, and we have a big week ahead.”

On Sidney Love’s performance against UTRGV: “I thought she was just in control. Sid has been here for three years and has been a three-year starter and someone that we definitely rely upon. But I think also you see the growth in a young lady that has sort of been in the fire and understands the sort of roller coaster you ride in a game. I thought she had some really, really good moments.

“But I thought where she was so impressive was just in her ability to stay connected with our team and to stay focused on … the task at hand … It was probably one of her best performances in what I call keeping the blinders on, and just have tunnel vision in what it was going to take for our team to win the game.”

Asked about junior Alexis Parker getting her fourth career start and freshman Damara Allen her first, “I think it goes back to the summer grind and the offseason grind. As you get ready for season, right now, from a coaching standpoint, you’re looking at who’s been the most consistent from Day One. And who has sort of put their shoes on and laced ’em up and worked every single day.

“I think those two have really shown a level of consistency with how they’re approaching practice every day. I mean, there’s others that have, too. And right now it’s a level of uncertainty, really, with our wing players. Who’s going to be who’s going to be ready to play and who understands the scout. Who understands what we expect, how to get the ball to the right person at the right time. Just a lot of things that go into playing at this level.

“I think it’ll still be kind of a week-by-week situation, just because there are some other players that I think deserve some playing time, too. Emma (Lucio) had some really good minutes and hasn’t played hardly at all. But when you go back to the question … about Lex and Damara, it’s been their level of consistency from Day One.”

Aston made her remarks on Monday on her weekly zoom conference.

A ‘long, hard summer’ is over as UTSA women’s basketball prepares for exhibition play

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Sidney Love. Temple defeated UTSA 56-48 in American Athletic Conference women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Junior guard Sidney Love is a returning two-year starter for the UTSA Roadrunners, who finished 18-15 and reached the second round of the WNIT last season. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Finally, the UTSA women’s basketball team on Friday night will welcome fans and players from another university into the Convocation Center.

The Roadrunners will host the St. Mary’s University Rattlers in an exhibition starting at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.

“It’s been a long, hard summer,” UTSA guard Sidney Love said. “We’ve been grinding since June, so we’re ready to make our hard work pay off.”

Coming off an 18-15 run to the second round of the WNIT for their best season in 15 years, the Roadrunners will take the floor tonight with high expectations.

In the Rattlers, the Roadrunners likely will get their first test of an underdog opponent who will play with passion, trying to knock them off.

When they face a more talented team, as they will next Thursday at Texas A&M in the regular-season opener, they’ll be confronted with foes that will lock in mentally, knowing that UTSA might have the talent to spring a surprise. Even on the road, against the nation’s power elite.

Basically, everyone they play will be in upset mode, on high motor, high alert, or a combination of all of the above.

“Every year I’ve been here, we’ve been doing better each season,” UTSA forward Jordyn Jenkins said. “You know, I think the challenges are just whatever we have within ourselves. You know (I think) it’s going to be us that’s going to hold us back. We have a lot of talent. We have some newcomers that really get our chemistry going.”

Notable

The game will mark the fans’ first chance to see the fourth edition of Coach Karen Aston’s Roadrunners in action against an opponent. A program that won two games in the season before Aston’s arrival won 18 games last year for the most in a season since 2008-09. The basketball program is in its 44th season overall and its second in the American Athletic Conference.

UTSA roster

Siena Guttadauro, 5-6 guard, junior from San Jose, Calif.
Alexis Parker, 5-9 guard, junior from San Antonio (Brandeis High School)
Emma Lucio, 5-9 guard, sophomore from Edinburg (Vela High School)
Damara Allen, 5-10 guard, freshman from Aurora, Colo.
Mia Hammonds, 6-3 guard, freshman from Cibolo (Steele High School)
Nyayongah Gony, 6-4 forward, redshirt senior from Lincoln, Neb., transfer from Mississippi State, also formerly of the University of Miami
Nina De Leon Negron, 5-6 guard, graduate senior from San Juan, Puerto Rico, transfer from the University of the Incarnate Word, also formerly of Austin Peay
Sidney Love, 5-8 guard, junior from Cibolo (Steele High School)
Aysia Proctor, 5-8 guard, sophomore from Schertz (Clemens High School)
Taylor Ross, 6-1 forward, freshman from San Antonio (Brennan High School)
Maya Linton, 5-11 forward, junior from Duncanville
Cheyenne Rowe, 6-2 forward, junior from Ajax, Ontario, Canada; played for UTSA last season as a transfer from James Madison
Idara Udo, 6-1 center-forward, sophomore from Plano
Jordyn Jenkins, 6-0 forward, redshirt senior from Kent, Wash., played the past two seasons at UTSA, transfer from Southern Cal
Emilia Dannebauer, 6-4 forward-center, freshman from Berlin, Germany

Lawrence-led Charlotte 49ers to test the upstart UTSA women

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By Jerry Briggs
Special to The JB Replay

Dazia Lawrence and the Charlotte 49ers are the talk of American Athletic Conference in women’s basketball.

Picked to finish 10th in the league’s preseason poll, the 49ers sit in first place in the AAC with a 4-0 record.

They’re warming up at the UTSA Convocation right now, preparing for a 2 p.m. game against the UTSA Roadrunners women.

Dazia Lawrence, a dynamic guard-forward, leads the 49ers. She averaged 28 points and 5.5 rebounds last week. This week, she torched the Rice Owls for 24 points in a 61-54 victory Thursday night in Houston.

“She’s definitely the head of their team,” UTSA guard Sidney Love said. “We’re just going to have to know that she’s going to hit tough shots. We’re going to have to contain her. We’ll have to adjust to what she can do. But we’ll be all right.”

UTSA has a player in Elyssa Coleman that has been putting up some numbers, as well. Coleman had 32 points and 19 rebounds last week against Wichita State and followed Wednesday night at Florida Atlantic with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

As a result, the Roadrunners have bounced back from an 0-2 start, getting to 2-2 as they prepare to face the 49ers.

“I think we’re coming off two good wins,” Love said. “We started a little slow. But I think we needed that to find a place to pick, to build on. We’re in a good space right now. We’re just building. It’s all positive energy.”

One of the most remarkable aspects of UTSA’s 8-7 season to date has been the team’s resilience in competing without Jordyn Jenkins, the Player of the Year last season in Conference USA.

Jenkins, a USC transfer who averaged 20 points per game last season, hurt her knee last April in the offseason and is still rehabilitating.

That UTSA has continued to progress as a program speaks volumes about the heart of everyone suiting up today against Charlotte.

And, just for the record, Jenkins is in the arena with her teammates as she has been all season, but she isn’t expected to play against the 49ers.

“I like to call it bittersweet, because she’s such a great player,” Love said. “We would do nothing but elevate if we had her on the court. But without her, it’s made people step up and realize that we all need each other.

“We all have to play for each other,” Love said. “We have to be big on the court in certain moments when we need to be big. I just think it’s made the team better, and when she comes back, it’ll be just that much better for everybody.”

Coming up

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

UTSA women improve to 4-2 after rallying past Sam Houston State

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Guard Kyra White scored 11 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter as the UTSA women rallied from an 11-point deficit to down the Sam Houston State Bearkats, 63-56, Saturday afternoon in Huntsville.

With UTSA trailing for most of the game and by a 44-33 margin after three quarters, White and Sidney Love went to work.

In the fourth period, White hit all four of her field goal attempts and all three shots from the free-throw line, while backcourt mate Sidney Love hit five of six from the line to highlight a seven-point outburst. Love finished the game with 12.

Elyssa Coleman led the Roadrunners with 17 points and six rebounds.

Guard Sydnee Kemp had 14 points and Raanee Smith 13 for the Bearkats. Kemp had five of her points, including a three, in an 8-0 run to the end of the third quarter.

Records

UTSA 4-2
Sam Houston State 3-2

Coming up

Texas State at UTSA, Thursday, 5 p.m.

Surprising UTSA women set to play their fifth road game of the young season

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Elyssa Coleman. UTSA beat Rice 66-53 in Conference USA women's basketball on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Junior Elyssa Coleman will lead the UTSA Roadrunners into today’s road game at Sam Houston State. — File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special to The JB Replay

A women’s college basketball odyssey of sorts is scheduled to come to an end today in Huntsville.

The UTSA Roadrunners are set to complete a season-opening stretch of six games — with five of them on the road — in Huntsville against the Sam Houston State Bearkats.

UTSA (3-2) and Sam Houston State (3-1) are set to tip off at 4 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum. The Roadrunners, 1-0 at home and 2-2 on the road so far, have fared surprisingly well leading into their 20th day of the regular season.

If they can play well and perhaps catch a few breaks against the Bearkats, they could return to San Antonio today two games over .500. At worst, they will have broken even.

Regardless of what happens today, it’s a good sign for a team to be in such a position near the end of the first month of any season, let alone one in which it is playing without its best player.

Jordyn Jenkins, rehabilitating a knee injury, hasn’t been in the lineup yet. Players such as Sidney Love, Kyra White, Elyssa Coleman, Maya Linton and freshman Aysia Proctor have stepped up, leading the first-year program in the American Athletic Conference to a home victory over New Mexico State, along with road wins at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UT Arlington.

In their last outing, on Monday in Lubbock, the Roadrunners played well but dropped a 63-58 decision in Big 12 country against the Texas Tech Lady Raiders.

Against Sam Houston, they’ll hardly be lacking in confidence, though they will need to take care of the ball. After turning it over 31 times at Texas Tech, they’ll play a team that ranks among the nation’s best at creating turnovers. The Bearkats force 26.8 opponent miscues per game.

Sam Houston is making the transition this season into Conference USA. It lost only to Houston and recently claimed a 66-62 victory on the road against Texas State.

Records

UTSA 3-2
Sam Houston State 3-1

Coming up

Texas State at UTSA, Thursday, 5 p.m.

Texas Tech stays undefeated with a late defensive stand against the UTSA Roadrunners

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Bailey Maupin scored five of her team-high 18 points in the final four minutes Monday night as the Texas Tech Lady Raiders remained undefeated with a 63-58 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners.

Maupin also had a big defensive play in the final minute.

With Tech leading by the eventual final score, both Maupin and Elina Arike stood their ground and got knocked down by UTSA guard Sidney Love.

Though Love’s shot went in, it was waved off on a charging call, one of two costly turnovers on the Roadrunners in the final 30 seconds.

Overall, Tech forced UTSA into a season-high 31 turnovers, which overshadowed what otherwise was a solid performance by the Roadrunners on the road against a Big 12 program.

UTSA out-shot Tech from the field (45.1 to 33.9) and won the rebounding battle (43-30), but it wasn’t enough. In the end, the Roadrunners’ three-game winning streak, including two on the road, was snapped.

Driving past defenders and creating space for herself much of the time, Love scored a team-high 18 points on seven of 14 shooting. Kyra White produced 13 points and eight rebounds. Meanwhile, freshman Aysia Proctor had 10 and five boards.

Guard Jasmine Shavers scored 15 points and had three steals for the Lady Raiders. Jordyn Merritt led defensively with four steals for Tech.

First half

Applying pressure on defense, the Lady Raiders held the Roadrunners without a field goal for more than four minutes in the second quarter en route to a 35-25 halftime lead.

Tech’s defense was the difference as the Raiders forced 18 turnovers and scored 21 points off those miscues. At one point in the second quarter, UTSA committed five turnovers in a three-minute span, allowing Tech to expand a nine-point lead to 17.

UTSA responded in the last few minutes of the half, outscoring Tech 8-2. Sophomore Sidney Love made a steal and hit two baskets in the last two minutes.

Kilah Freelon, Ashley Chevalier and Shavers led the Raiders in scoring in the half with eight points apiece. Though the Raiders hit only 35.3 percent from the field, they made up for that with nine of 11 shooting at the free-throw line.

UTSA, by contrast, was only two for two at the line. The Roadrunners were effective when they could get a shot off. They hit 52.4 percent from the field. Love had eight points and Aysia Proctor six at the half for the Roadrunners.

Records

Texas Tech 5-0
UTSA 3-2

Coming up

UTSA at Sam Houston State, Saturday, 4 p.m.

Surging UTSA women to challenge Texas Tech in Lubbock

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Sidney Love. UTSA beat New Mexico State 58-55 in women's basketball on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA has won three in a row and two straight on the road. Sophomore Sidney Love is leading the team in scoring, averaging 12.5 coming into tonight’s road game in Lubbock against the Texas Tech Lady Raiders, a member of the Big 12 Conference. UTSA hasn’t won a game against a power conference opponent since 2010. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special to The JB Replay

Winning three of four games by double-digit proportions, the undefeated Texas Tech Lady Raiders haven’t been seriously challenged as they prepare to play a fifth straight home game in Lubbock, this one against the upstart UTSA Roadrunners tonight.

Tipoff between Tech (4-0) and UTSA (3-1) is set for 6 p.m.

In winning a couple of games by more than 40 points, another by 17 and one by seven, Jasmine Shavers, Bailey Maupin, Jordyn Merritt and Co. have been on cruise control since they played their first game on Nov. 7.

Sure, the Lady Raiders have yet to play a fellow Power 5 opponent, but their efficiency has been scary.

Coach Krista Gerlich’s team has averaged almost 80 points, and three of her starters — Shavers, Kilah Freelon and Ashley Chevalier — are shooting better than 50 percent from the field.

Despite the Lady Raiders’ high level of play, the Roadrunners are coming in with a solid base of confidence stemming from three straight victories, including two straight on the road.

Guards Sidney Love and Kyra White lead the Roadrunners. UTSA also has some size in Elyssa Coleman and Idara Udo to match up. White averages 37 minutes per game and contributes heavily on both ends of the floor. Love is coming off a career-high 26-point outing Saturday at UT Arlington.

One of the keys could be forward Maya Linton, who is fast improving on her game. Linton, a 6-foot sophomore, is known as a defensive stopper. But she also has started to look more at the basket and only two nights ago had 14 points and 10 rebounds against the Lady Mavs.

If the Roadrunners win tonight, it would be a major accomplishment from a historical perspective. The UTSA women’s basketball program hasn’t won a game against a P5 conference opponent since 2010 when it defeated Kansas State, 72-55.

Since then, the Roadrunners have lost 20 in a row to teams from the five major revenue-producing conferences. Under coach Karen Aston, in her third year at UTSA, the Roadrunners are 0-5 against the so-called power programs, including 0-1 this year following a 70-55 loss at Arizona State on opening night.

Records

UTSA 3-1
Texas Tech 4-0

Coming up

UTSA at Sam Houston State, Saturday, 4 p.m.

Texas Tech season review
All games at home in Lubbock
Nov 7 – UT Rio Grande Valley, W, 95-53. Jasmine Shavers produces career-tying 26 points, seven rebounds.
Nov 10 – Tarleton, W, 70-63. Jordyn Merritt has 18 points, two three-pointers.
Nov 13 – Lamar, W, 61-44. Jasmine Shavers, 16 points.
Nov 17 – Texas A&M-Commerce, W, 91-45. Tech surges to 29-0 lead and cruises; Kilah Freelon, 14 points, 11 rebounds.

Love scores career-high 26 as UTSA beats Arlington, 70-66

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By Jerry Briggs
Special to The JB Replay

Sophomore guard Sidney Love scored a career-high 26 points Saturday afternoon, lifting the UTSA Roadrunners to a 70-66 victory over the UT Arlington Lady Mavs.

Sidney Love. UTSA beat St. Mary's 67-46 in a women's basketball exhibition game on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Sidney Love scored 26 points to top her previous career high of 23 from New Year’s Eve last season against the UAB Blazers. – File photo by Joe Alexander

Playing in Arlington at the College Park Center, the Roadrunners withstood a late challenge from the winless Mavs to win their third straight game and their second straight on the road.

Love, a multi-skilled talent from San Antonio area Steele High School, hit six of 10 shots from the field and one of two from three-point distance. She enjoyed great success in taking the ball to the basket and drawing fouls, converting 13 of 15 from the free-throw line.

Sophomore Maya Linton, who played in high school in the Dallas-Fort Worth area at Duncanville, posted a double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Linton is starting at power forward, with UTSA star Jordyn Jenkins unavailable as she rehabilitates a knee injury. Jenkins, the Player of the Year in Conference USA last season, hasn’t played this season.

In the big picture, the Roadrunners might be starting to turn the corner as a program. Last year, they finished with a 13-19 record. But they enjoyed a strong showing at the end of the season, winning nine of their last 13 games, including two at the C-USA tournament. This year, as they enter play in the American Athletic Conference, they’ve won three of their first four.

All told, their fast start this season means that they have posted a 12-5 record in their last 17, starting that run with a 66-63 win at Louisiana Tech last Jan. 28. They’ll get another test Monday when they play on the road in the Big 12 Conference at Texas Tech.

Records

UTSA 3-1
UT Arlington 0-4

Coming up

UTSA at Texas Tech, Monday, 6 p.m.

Setting the stage

Entering play against the Mavs, UTSA had enjoyed moderate success in the new season. In the season opener, the Roadrunners took a 70-55 loss at Arizona State of the Pac 12 Conference. Returning home, they survived a close encounter with the New Mexico State Aggies, winning 58-55 behind 19 points from freshman Aysia Proctor. On Wednesday night, they traveled to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, fell behind by as many as 15 points in the third quarter and then rallied for a 66-59 victory in overtime.

Love’s outburst

Love carried the Roadrunners in the third quarter, when they outscored the Mavs 18-13 and opened up a 50-45 lead. Taking advantage of her size, quickness and ball-handling skills, she scored 12 in the period. In doing so, the former San Antonio area standout motored inside for layups and hit one three from the corner.

Freshman forward Idara Udo also had a good stretch in the third, scoring five points. Udo, from Plano, finished with nine points and seven rebounds off the bench.

First half

Facing a team with a wide array of offensive options, the Roadrunners allowed a seven-point lead at the end of the first quarter to evaporate, with the Lady Mavs storming from behind to tie the game, 32-32, at halftime.

In the second period, the Mavs unleashed a diverse attack that often put the Roadrunners on their heels. Drives into the paint. Reverse layups. Soft jumpers from the mid range and three-point rainbows. UTA had it all going on as the home team won the quarter, 22-15.

UTSA enjoyed equivalent success in the first quarter. While holding UTA to 26 percent shooting, UTSA kept applying pressure and moved out to a 17-10 lead after the first 10 minutes. Kyra White and Maya Linton contributed four points apiece for the Roadrunners in the period.

In the first half for the Roadrunners, Linton had one of her better performances of the season, tossing in 12 points and hustling for five rebounds. In winning the rebounding battle, Elyssa Coleman had six boards, while Linton and Udo banged inside for five apiece. UTSA hit 14 of 38 from the field for 36 percent.

The Lady Mavs guard Nya Threatt led the way with eight points on three of five shooting. Fleet guard Gia Adams scored six and Taliyah Clark and Avery Brittingham five apiece. UTA hit 13 of 33 from the field for 39 percent. Brittingham pulled down eight rebounds, but the Mavs were out-boarded, 26-18. UTA allowed UTSA to grab 10 boards off the offensive glass.

Notable

UTSA coach Karen Aston played 11 players. Nine of them scored and everyone contributed. Notably:

—Kyra White, the star of UTSA’s victory at A&M-Corpus Christi, played heavy minutes for the second straight game. White played 43 minutes at Corpus Christi on Wednesday night and another 35 on Saturday. Against the Mavs, she took only six shots and scored five points. But she had six rebounds and a team-leading six assists.

—Madison Cockrell, from Dallas Bishop Lynch in the DFW area, contributed three points and an assist in only eight minutes. Aysia Proctor, a freshman from San Antonio-area Clemens High, played only four minutes but she hit her only field goal attempt.

Guards Nya Threatt and Taliyah Clark and forward Avery Brittingham each scored 13 points for the Mavs. Threatt and Brittingham combined to hit four of nine from the three-point line, but the rest of the team wasn’t nearly as accurate, shooting one for 12.

UTA is coached by former Copperas Cove High School prep star Shereka Wright. After high school, she starred at Purdue, averaging 19.0, 18.9 and 20.1 points in her last three seasons with the Big Ten’s Boilermakers. Wright retired from the WNBA in 2006 after suffering a torn Achilles. At UT-Arlington, Wright is 47-36 as coach of the Mavs in a little more than three seasons.

UTA lost 76-61 on the road at South Florida of the American conference to open the season. Coming home, UTA was bounced 74-57 at the hands of the Lamar Cardinals. In Game 3, the Lady Mavs traveled to Austin on Tuesday and took a beating. The Longhorns beat the Lady Mavs 110-64.

Women’s basketball: UTSA leads D-I programs with four players from the S.A. area

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Aysia Proctor at UTSA women's basketball practice on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Aysia Proctor is a UTSA freshman from Clemens High School. The Roadrunners open the season on the road tonight against the Arizona State Sun Devils. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

With NCAA Division I women’s basketball programs starting play today, it’s time to take a look at players from the San Antonio area.

Notably, I see that Carleigh Wenzel from O’Connor will be active at Virginia Tech this season after sitting out as a redshirt last year. Virginia Tech is one of the strongest programs in the nation, coming off a run to the Final Four. In addition, Deja Kelly, formerly of Johnson High School, is playing as a senior at North Carolina. Other SA-area players in so-called power conference programs include Texas A&M’s Sahara Jones, from Veterans Memorial, and TCU’s Aaliyah Roberson, from Clark. UTSA has assembled a strong contingent of four local players in Kyra White (Judson), Sidney Love (Steele), Alexis Parker (Brandeis) and Aysia Proctor (Clemens).

As usual, we’ll close by noting that this likely isn’t a list of every San Antonio female athlete playing at the highest level. But it’s gleaned partially from lists that I’ve published for a few years now, so, take it for what it’s worth. Naturally, I’ll update when new information comes to light.

San Antonio area athletes in NCAA Division I women’s basketball:

Hailey Adams, Rice, 6-1 guard, redshirt freshman from Clark HS

Myra Bell, UIW, 5-10 guard, senior from Taft HS

Layla Conley, Rice, 5-8 guard, freshman from Harlan HS

Jaylin Foster, Texas State, 6-0 forward, from Steele HS, transfer from Western Kentucky

Sahara Jones, Texas A&M, 6-0 guard, senior from Veterans Memorial

Sidney Love, UTSA, 5-8 guard, a sophomore from Steele HS

Ja’Shelle Johnson, UT Rio Grande Valley, a freshman from Johnson HS

Deja Kelly, North Carolina, 5-8 guard, a senior from San Antonio Johnson HS and Duncanville HS

Amira Mabry, Tulane, 6-0 forward, a sophomore from Judson HS

Aaliyah McMillan, UT Rio Grande Valley, 5-8 guard, RS sophomore from Steele HS; transfer from UT Arlington

Brenna Perez, UIW, 6-0 forward, senior from Veterans Memorial HS

Alexis Parker, UTSA, 5-9 guard, sophomore from Brandeis

Aysia Proctor, UTSA, 5-8 guard, freshman from Clemens

Tiffany Tullis, Texas State, 5-11 forward, junior from Cornerstone and Blinn College

Aaliyah Roberson, TCU, 6-2 forward, sophomore from Clark

Sammie Wagner, Oregon, 6-1 forward, redshirt freshman from Reagan

Carleigh Wenzel, Virginia Tech, 6-0 guard, redshirt freshman from O’Connor and Antonian

Kyra White, UTSA, 5-9 guard, a senior from Judson; transfer from USC