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UTSA’s Aston says an opportunity to play at Stanford is ‘a gift for our players’

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

UTSA coach Karen Aston leads her team into its toughest game of the season Monday afternoon at Stanford. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Tara VanDerveer will not be coaching the Stanford Cardinal on Monday afternoon, but her name will be on the court at Maples Pavilion, and that alone likely will be enough to light the competitive fires inside each and every member of the upstart UTSA women’s basketball team.

“Even though Tara’s not there, she built that program,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “To be able to play on a court that has her name on it, first of all, and to play a team that has such a rich tradition and footprint on our game, is a gift for our players.

“You know, we don’t take that lightly,” the coach added. “We appreciate the opportunity, and we’ll try to make the most of it. I expect our team to be competitive. I’ll be surprised if we’re not.”

The 2023-24 season was the last at Stanford for VanDerveer, who retired after 38 years as the school’s head coach. In the wake of her departure, the school put her name on the court, to honor a woman who led the program to 15 Pac-12 tournament championships, 14 Final Fours and three national titles.

Stepping into the job this fall was Kate Paye, one of VanDerveer’s former players, who was also one of the legend’s longtime former assistants.

Under Paye, the Cardinal (7-3) won seven of their first eight games before dropping the last two. Stanford had fourth-ranked LSU beat a week ago before giving up a lead in the final minutes and then losing in overtime in Baton Rouge, La.

On Friday night, they opened play in the Atlantic Coast Conference on the road against the Cal Bears. Surprisingly, the Bears walloped the Cardinal, 83-63. As a result, Stanford will be trying to avoid a three-game losing streak in the same season for the first time since January 2001.

Despite back-to-back losses, the Cardinal remain heavily favored to win on their homecourt. Yes, the Roadrunners (7-1) have forged a seven-game winning streak, the longest at the school in 11 years. But Aston, who faced the top teams in the country regularly as the head coach at the University of Texas, knows what she is up against.

Stanford is 7-0 this season on Tara VanDerveer Court and can light up the scoreboard with anyone.

Led by forward Nunu Agara and a fleet of talented perimeter players, the Cardinal have one of the most explosive offenses in the nation, averaging 83.2 points per game on 48.6 percent shooting from the field. In three-point accuracy, they lead NCAA Division I with a percentage of 42.8.

“It starts with the players,” Aston said. “They are able to recruit … players who can shoot and come into their (college) careers already having that skillset. And what they do offensively lends to that.

“They run a lot of motion, a lot of movement, a lot of actions, is what I would call it, and it puts a lot of pressure on your defense to not make … minor mistakes that get one of them open for a clear 3-point shot. So I think their system is really good, and the concepts they run, they’re really comfortable with.”

The Stanford offense will be a good test for UTSA, which has held its last four opponents to an average of 43 points on 29.7 percent shooting. Aston said she hopes her players are ready for Stanford 3-point artists Elena Bosgana, Brooke Demetre and Jzaniya Harriel.

“I think it will be a huge challenge for us on Monday to make sure they don’t have a hey-day on the 3-point line,” Aston said.

Records

UTSA 7-1
Stanford 7-3

Coming up

UTSA at Stanford, Monday, 2 p.m.
UT Arlington at UTSA, Thursday, 4 p.m.
UTSA at Texas State, Saturday, noon

Notable

Dating back to the 2010-11 season, UTSA women’s basketball has lost 24 games in a row to teams from power conferences. In other words, to teams that come from conferences bringing in the most revenue. Aston is 0-8 against the power elite in a little more than three seasons at UTSA, including a 55-51 loss on Nov. 7 at Texas A&M in this year’s opener. The Roadrunners’ last win against a power conference opponent came on Dec. 16, 2010, when they defeated the Kansas State Wildcats, 72-55, at the Convocation Center.

UTSA claims first road win of the season, 95-85, at North Dakota

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Guard Tai’Reon Joseph poured in 28 points, and the UTSA Roadrunners claimed their first road victory of the season by holding off the North Dakota Fighting Hawks 95-85 Sunday afternoon.

After the Roadrunners defeated the Hawks 80-76 on Friday night in San Antonio, the second game between the teams in three days started to look like a blowout in the second half, with UTSA building a 17-point lead in Grand Forks, N.D.

In the end, though, the Hawks battled from behind and pulled within three with 1:28 remaining.

Down the stretch, UTSA guard Marcus Millender scored on a driving layup off a set play. After that, Damari Monsanto, Raekwon Horton and Joseph, a transfer from Southern University playing in only his third game at UTSA, hit two free throws apiece to secure the 2-0 sweep of the Hawks.

The story of the day centered on Joseph, who had to sit out the first seven games of the season to regain his eligibility. Playing in his first two, he showed off elite defensive skills but scored only six points at Arkansas and six more Friday at home against North Dakota.

But because of an errant jump shot, he hit only four of 14 from the field in the two games combined. On Sunday, coming off the bench for UTSA at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, Joseph started to round into the form that made him the leading scorer last year in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

He hit eight of 11 from the field and six of eight from the 3-point arc. Joseph also hit six of seven at the line as UTSA, the third-best free-throw shooting team in the nation, knocked down 22 of 24 for 91.7 percent.

Afterward, Joseph told the UTSA radio broadcast that vocal support from his coaches and teammates helped him stay confident with his offensive game.

“I just got back (in the lineup), and they told me, ‘Shot (is) going (to) fall. Keep shooting,’ ” Joseph said. “They kept giving me the ball, and I just kept taking shots, and they started falling.”

In an interview with broadcaster Andy Everett, Joseph said coaches told him during the game to drive the ball if the defense kept pressuring him at the 3-point line. He did just that with a drive and a jam that lifted the Roadrunners into an 80-66 lead with 4:36 left.

“Coach telling me, ‘Hey, (if) they flying out there … you can go get you a dunk. Next play, I got the dunk,” he said.

The Roadrunners’ offense was at its best, as they hit 52 percent from the field for the game and 63 percent at the 3-point arc. From the arc, they made 15 of its shots on 24 attempts. Moving the ball well, the Roadrunners had 29 field goals on 16 assists.

“It’s just sharing the ball,” Joseph said. “Like coach said, when you share the ball, we all going to have fun and we all going to win.”

Guard Primo Spears scored 16 points and Damari Monsanto 15 for the Roadrunners. Millender had 11 points and seven assists, while Horton contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Guard Treysen Eaglestaff led North Dakota with 24 points, including 13 in the second half. Dariyus Woodson added 23. Combined, the two of them made nine three pointers. For the Fighting Hawks, who play in the Summit League, it was their third game in five days in three different cities.

On their sojourn, they traveled to Orem, Utah, last Tuesday and lost to Utah Valley on Wednesday night. Afterward, they flew to San Antonio on Thursday and lost to UTSA Friday night in the makeup of a game that had been re-scheduled from a Nov. 9 postponement.

First half

The Roadrunners shot 50 percent from the field and made seven 3-pointers in the first half en route to a 39-34 lead against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. Horton and Primo Spears hit from beyond the arc in the final 61 seconds in a late 6-1 run for UTSA.

Records

UTSA 5-5
North Dakota 4-8

Coming up

Southwestern Adventist at UTSA, Thursday, noon

Notable

The Roadrunners were looking a little lost after starting the season with a 1-3 record, including three straight losses by double figures.

Since then, they’ve won four of their last six, with the only two losses coming on the road at Saint Mary’s and Arkansas, both of them NCAA tournament contenders. After they play host to Southwestern Adventist — a non-Division I private school from Keene, in the Fort Worth area — they’ll have a break before they travel to meet Army on Dec. 29.

Conference play starts on Jan. 4 at Tulane.

UTSA forward David Hermes played for the first time since a Nov. 25 game against Troy. He scored four points and had a blocked shot in four minutes. Born in Syria, Hermes is a 6-10 forward from Stockholm, Sweden. He attended high school in Florida and played in junior college at Indian Hills Community College.

Forward Jaquan Scott missed his second game in a row. After Friday’s game in San Antonio, UTSA coach Austin Claunch said Scott “isn’t with us right now.” He said that there’s no timetable for his return.

UTSA will host a basketball doubleheader on Thursday at the Convocation Center. After the men host Southwest Adventist, the women will take on the UT Arlington Mavericks at 4 p.m.

Spears-led UTSA claims ‘the first round’ against North Dakota

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Primo Spears. UTSA beat North Dakota 80-76 in non-conference men's basketball on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Connecticut native Primo Spears punctuated UTSA’s 80-76 victory over North Dakota Friday night by knocking down three straight field goals in the final two minutes. He scored a game-high 28 points. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Guard Primo Spears scored 10 of his 28 points in the final two minutes and 11 seconds as the UTSA Roadrunners held off the North Dakota Fighting Hawks 80-76 Friday night at the Convocation Center. The teams will play again on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Grand Forks, N.D.

“The first round is important,” Spears said of the two-game series. “Now we got to go up there and face a little adversity with the traveling and try to get us another one.”

Spears entered Friday’s contest as the nation’s fourth leading scorer, and with the game on the line, he showed how he has elevated himself into that position. The native of Hartford, Conn., made two acrobatic moves down the stretch and converted each into three-point plays.

Damari Monsanto. UTSA beat North Dakota 80-76 in non-conference men's basketball on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Damari Monsanto scored 12 points as he made four shots from 3-point distance. He also passed for four assists. – Photo by Joe Alexander

On one of them, he cut across the lane and laid out for a driving, right-handed scoop shot. After the foul, he got up off the floor and hit the free throw. On another, he split a pair of defenders for a layup, drew contact, and ended up at the line for another freebie.

Spears was hardly the only show in an entertaining basketball game.

Forward Dariyus Woodson led five North Dakota players in double figures with 21 points, including a 3-point shot that he banked in with 20 seconds left. His shot trimmed UTSA’s lead to four and gave North Dakota some hope for a miracle finish, but Spears knocked down two free throws with 16 seconds left to all but seal it.

“Wins are always good,” UTSA coach Austin Claunch said. “I think the most encouraging thing about this is, offensively, we score 80 and we left some meat on that bone. We missed some open threes, some shots we normally make.”

Dominating on the boards throughout, the Hawks had their moments in the game.

In the first half, they forged a 14-3 run to build a 31-23 lead with more than seven minutes left. In the second half, even when they fell behind by 13 with 10 minutes remaining, they responded with runs that pulled them to within five three times down the stretch.

Each time, the Roadrunners made enough plays to pull it out. Afterward, Claunch praised his players’ “collective fight” in winning their second straight at home and their third in their last five overall.

“This was encouraging, to get up by 13 with 10 minutes left against a quality team,” Claunch said. “Now we just got to continue to grow and learn how to finish, which is part of becoming a good program and a good team.”

Records

North Dakota 4-7
UTSA 4-5

Coming up

UTSA at North Dakota, Sunday, 2 p.m.

Individual leaders

North Dakota — Small forward Dariyus Woodson hit six of 14 from the field and five of 12 from three to score 21 points. Guard Treysen Eaglestaff scored 14, more than four below his team-leading average of 18.5, and Brian Mathews added 13. Forwards Deng Mayar and Amar Kuljuhovic each scored 10 and dominated the boards, with both pulling down 11 rebounds. The two combined for 13 offensive rebounds, with Kuljuhovic grabbing nine.

Marcus Millender. UTSA beat North Dakota 80-76 in non-conference men's basketball on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Marcus Millender produced 10 points, four rebounds and three steals .as UTSA won its second straight game at home. – Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA — Spears knocked down 11 of 17 shots from the field and was three for three in the last 2 minutes and 11 seconds. He scored 28 points, his seventh game with 20 or more this season. Damari Monsanto scored 12, including four 3-point baskets. Marcus Millender was good across the board. Millender had 10 points and four rebounds, and he also had four assists and three steals. Forward Jonnivius Smith contributed eight points, 11 rebounds and two blocks.

Notable

The Roadrunners were scheduled to take a charter flight to Grand Forks, N.D., late Friday night, the team’s first charter flight of the season Over the years, UTSA men’s basketball traditionally has traveled on commercial airlines. But it is expected that UTSA will charter on a limited basis through this season. The team is expected to return home from North Dakota on a commercial flight.

UTSA forward Jaquan Scott, one of the Roadrunners’ best athletes, did not play and apparently wasn’t in the arena. Asked about Scott’s status on the team, Claunch said: “He’s not with us right now.” He described it as “a personal matter that we’re dealing with internally.” There is no timetable for Scott’s return, the coach said.

Spears is shooting the basketball better at UTSA than in any of his three previous stops in college basketball. As player at Duquesne, Georgetown and Florida State in the past three years, respectively, he never posted a field goal percentage better than 40.8 percent. He is shooting 45.2 percent at UTSA. On his three-pointers, he was never better than 30 percent at any of his previous stops. Spears is hitting 35.3 percent from three at UTSA.

Austin Claunch. UTSA beat North Dakota 80-76 in non-conference men's basketball on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Austin Claunch’s UTSA Roadrunners outscored the North Dakota Fighting Hawks 21-5 in fast break points. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Quotable

Claunch said Spears “had a great week” of practice after the team returned home from Arkansas, where they lost by 15 last Saturday. “I thought he showed incredible leadership and spirit tonight,” the coach said. “You know, when you do that, good things tend to happen.” Claunch said he didn’t really notice that Spears scored 28. “I thought he was an incredible floor general, getting everybody involved,” the coach said. “He did what great players do at the end of the game. They make shots.”

First half

The UTSA Roadrunners scored 16 points off nine North Dakota turnovers, seizing a 43-38 lead at intermission. Primo Spears and Marcus Millender led the defensive effort with three steals apiece.

They also paced the offensive attack with Spears scoring 12 points and Millender 10. Combined, the two shot nine of 17 from the field between them. Forward Jonnivius Smith came off the bench to supply a spark, producing six points and five rebounds in 14 minutes.

Treysen Eaglestaff highlighted the first-half performance by the Fighting Hawks with nine points on three of five shooting, including two of four from three.

Jonnivius Smith. UTSA beat North Dakota 80-76 in non-conference men's basketball on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Jonnivius Smith rises for a one-handed dunk against North Dakota. Smith finished with eight points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. – Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA men prepare for the first of two tests against North Dakota

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Over the next 72 hours, a college basketball oddity becomes a reality for the North Dakota Fighting Hawks and the UTSA Roadrunners.

The Fighting Hawks and Roadrunners men will play Friday night in San Antonio at the Convocation Center and then will turn around and play again Sunday afternoon in Grand Forks, N.D.

For UTSA coach Austin Claunch, it’ll be an experience that brings back memories of his first year in college coaching.

A dozen years ago, he worked on Paul Hewitt’s staff at George Mason University when the Patriots made the finals of the College Basketball Invitational. For the title, they faced off against the Santa Clara Gauchos in a best-of-three series.

The Gauchos won, two games to one, in a series spread out between the West and East coasts. Santa Clara won at home in California in Game 1, before George Mason rebounded two days later to take Game 2 in Fairfax, Va. Two days after that, playing in Fairfax again, the Gauchos beat the Patriots 80-77 for the championship.

“We went to Game 3 and I remember feeling, like, ‘Man, I don’t know how NBA teams do best of seven,’ ” Claunch said earlier this week. “It’s just insane. You feel like you watched the same personnel clips. You’re trying to find new things to talk to your team about. Back to back (games this weekend) won’t feel quite like that, but it’ll be a quick turnaround.”

Originally, North Dakota and UTSA were scheduled to play the first game of a home-and-home on Nov. 9 in San Antonio. But the game was called off, postponed in the wake of weather that prevented the Fighting Hawks from traveling through a flight connection in Denver.

Last week, the teams solidified the make-up for Friday night, the 13th, in San Antonio, which would be followed two days later by the game at Grand Forks. A game that had been on the books all along. So both teams, today, are preparing to see a lot of one another this weekend.

“When you’re playing a good team, you got to be locked in,” Claunch said Monday. “It’s going to be 80 minutes of really competitive basketball. This is a really important week of preparation, and right now we’re just worried about the first (game).

“We’re not worried about Sunday. We got to take care of home court this week and hopefully go 1-0 this week as we move into Sunday and hopefully start the (new) week off the right way.”

Records

North Dakota 4-6
UTSA 3-5

Coming up

UTSA at North Dakota, 2 p.m.

Notable

Two UTSA players to watch this weekend are guard Tai’Reon Joseph and forward Jaquan Scott. Two of the better athletes in the program, Joseph and Scott could spark the Roadrunners if they can find consistency. Joseph sat out the team’s first seven games with an eligibility issue and Scott missed three recently with a leg injury.

Joseph has shown in practices that he is one of the most explosive athletes on the team. A 6-foot-3 guard, the transfer from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., is a player capable of leading the team in scoring on certain nights.

In his first game of the season last Saturday at Arkansas, he sparked the team in the first half with a steal and a breakaway dunk. He finished with four points, two rebounds and three steals in 21 minutes. Joseph struggled with his shot, hitting only two of six from the field and zero for two on 3-pointers.

Scott, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Mississippi State, exploded on Dec. 3 at Saint Mary’s for 14 rebounds off the bench. He had eight offensive boards against one of the best rebounding teams in the nation. Against Arkansas on Dec. 7, his playing time was limited to 16 minutes because of foul trouble, and he finished with only four rebounds.

Eye on North Dakota

North Dakota basketball dates back to the 1904-05 season. For most of their history they have played and made their name in NCAA Division II, notably in the 1960s under head coach Bill Fitch, who had an All-American center named Phil Jackson.

The program started its transition to Division I in 2008 and became a full-time member in 2012-13. Another transition came in the change of nicknames. The school elected to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname in 2011 and went without one until 2015, when they became the Fighting Hawks.

Another milestone was reached in 2017 when North Dakota reached the NCAA Division I tournament for the first time. Playing as a No. 15 seed, they played Arizona in Salt Lake City and lost 100-82. Currently the Hawks are in their seventh season in the Summit League and their sixth under Head Coach Paul Sather.

Treysen Eaglestaff (18.3 ppg), Mier Panoam (13.6, 5.4 rpg) and Amar Kuljuhovic (11.3, 6.8) rank as the Hawks’ top players. They lost 80-57 on Wednesday night at Utah Valley to open a stretch of three games in five days in three different cities.

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UTSA men won’t take credit for moral victories after losses to Saint Mary’s, Arkansas

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Update: Groundbreaking for UTSA’s 53,000-square foot basketball and volleyball practice facility is scheduled for Dec. 18, according to a news release from the athletic department. The $35 million structure will be located next to the Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence on Barshop Blvd. It will house the daily operations of the UTSA men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball programs.

Austin Claunch. UTSA men's basketball lost to Little Rock 81-64 on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Austin Claunch’s UTSA Roadrunners moved up about 60 places in the NCAA NET rankings over the past week. The Roadrunners were ranked at No. 234 on Monday. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Last Tuesday night, UTSA men’s basketball coach Austin Claunch lamented lost chances to win on the home court of the Saint Mary’s Gaels, the defending champions in the West Coast Conference.

The Gaels won the ball game, 82-74 in overtime, but the Roadrunners made a statement, rallying from a 23-point deficit to tie the score after 40 minutes of regulation play.

“This is one we can watch and say, ‘We got something here, it’s coming,’ ” Claunch told the team’s radio broadcast. “You know, whether it’s next game or down the line or three months, UTSA is coming.”

By Saturday afternoon, the Roadrunners were doing their thing again, surging into a 32-27 intermission lead in the home arena of the Arkansas Razorbacks.

As the first half against John Calipari’s Razorbacks showed, UTSA has made substantial progress in some areas since it suffered three straight double-digit losses in November.

Then again, the second half at Arkansas was a different ball game, altogether. It was humbling. Getting walloped 48-28 after intermission in an eventual 75-60 loss exposed some of UTSA’s deficiencies that need to be addressed moving forward.

By Monday morning, Claunch made it clear that two hard-fought battles in losses against quality opponents can’t be considered a step forward for the program at this juncture of the season.

“Certainly step forward is hard to say when you go 0-2,” the coach said. “But at the same time, did we find things that we think are going to help us moving into conference? Yeah, absolutely. We’ve got to learn how to finish close games. And credit (to) Arkansas and Saint Mary’s. They’re obviously two good teams that have been there and have won a lot of games. Great programs. Two Hall of Fame coaches.

“For us to put ourselves in those situations, that’s encouraging. To be up at half against Arkansas. To take Saint Mary’s to overtime at a place they don’t lose very often, that’s really encouraging. Now we got to figure out how to win those type of games in overtime and to withstand the second-half comeback from a really good team, because we’ll be in that position again this season.”

In the wake of the losses at Saint Mary’s and Arkansas, UTSA has moved up about 60 places in the NET computer rankings. The Roadrunners have risen to No. 234 as of Monday, up from a ranking in the 290s early last week. The NET ranks 364 teams in NCAA Division I men’s college basketball on a daily basis.

UTSA’s next opponent, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, are 294th.

Coming up

North Dakota at UTSA, Friday, 7 p.m.
UTSA at North Dakota, Sunday, 2 p.m.

Records

North Dakota 4-5
UTSA 3-5

Notable

Groundbreaking for UTSA’s basketball and volleyball practice facility is expected this month.

Claunch joked that the two-games-in-three-days situation against North Dakota is “kind of like an NBA back-to-back.” North Dakota was originally scheduled to play in San Antonio on Nov. 9. That game had to be postponed because of weather-related travel issues that the visitors faced on one of their connecting flights.

Last week, the game was re-set officially for Dec. 13. Which means, the Roadrunners will play on their home floor Friday night, and travel most of the day Saturday to Grand Forks, N.D., where they’ll meet the Hawks again on Sunday afternoon.

The new schedule will be even more challenging for the Hawks, who will play three games in five days in three different cities this week.

They will start their sojourn Wednesday night with a road game at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Subsequently they’ll travel to San Antonio and play UTSA Friday night. Finally, the Hawks will return home to Grand Forks for the Sunday matinee.

UTSA women rout Sam Houston State, 79-36, for their seventh straight win

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UTSA women's basketball beat Sam Houston State 79-36 on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

The UTSA Roadrunners celebrate a winning play Saturday near the end of a 43-point victory over the Sam Houston State Bearkats. UTSA held Sam Houston to 21 percent shooting from the field. – Photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

In a women’s college basketball game held as a salute to educators, the UTSA Roadrunners on Saturday afternoon administered a two-hour tutorial in pressure defense, dismantling the Sam Houston State Bearkats 79-36 at the Convocation Center for their seventh straight victory.

The Roadrunners controlled the action from the outset and then delivered a crushing blow in the second half, outscoring the visitors 41-17 in front of an announced 837 fans.

So much for the idea that UTSA’s travel back from Puerto Rico last Sunday and a week-long layoff would have an effect on the team’s performance.

Jordyn Jenkins. UTSA women's basketball beat Sam Houston State 79-36 on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA forward Jordyn Jenkins, taking it to the basket against Sam Houston, finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. – Photo by Joe Alexander

“As a coach, I’ll nit-pick a little bit about certain things,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. ” … We came back from Puerto Rico and I thought we had a little bit of a lag … recovering from it. And then with finals coming up, I think it was a tough week for us, practice-wise. But, again, (I’m) proud of how we started and finished (the game).”

Forward Jordyn Jenkins finished with a 22-point, 10-rebound double double for UTSA.

Idara Udo, on her birthday, produced a season-high 15 points and also eight boards as her teammates won the rebounding battle, 53-27. From the UTSA backcourt, Sidney Love scored 10 points on four of seven shooting and Nina De Leon Negron passed for eight assists.

Junior forward Cheyenne Rowe delivered off the bench, scoring eight points on four of four shooting. Rowe also contributed with six rebounds in 16 minutes.

As a team, UTSA limited Sam Houston to 21.6 percent shooting from the field. While the UTSA defensive effort produced an opponent season low in points, the team played well offensively, as well, running up a point total that represented a season high.

The Roadrunners shot 48 percent from the field as they won their second game in a row by more than 30 points, the first time that has happened in 28 years.

UTSA’s winning streak seems to have developed two phases to it. In the first three games, the Roadrunners’ offense clicked with scores in the 70s and also with high shooting percentages from the field and from the 3-point arc. But in those games, opponents also shot the ball well against them.

When they returned to San Antonio from a two-game road swing to New Mexico State and UTEP, the team’s approach to defense changed a bit, with eye-opening results for the Roadrunners. They have since held their last four opponents to an average of 43 points per game, allowing only 29.7 percent shooting from the field.

Asked what has changed with UTSA’s defense over the last four outings, Aston said, “I honestly think we just re-assessed. When we came back from UTEP, our defense was maybe a little bit too scout-based, up until that point. The coaching staff looked at that and said, ‘Ok, what’s going on here?’

“We sort of just went back to fundamentals and basics, and I think it’s paid off in a sense that, having as many young players as we do, maybe not making them think quite so much about personnel and what the play is, and all that, and just getting back to the basics and concepts.”

Idara Udo. UTSA women's basketball beat Sam Houston State 79-36 on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA center Idara Udo celebrated her birthday by producing a season-high 15 points and eight rebounds. She also won the team’s ‘Cash In’ award for the game. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Early on in Saturday’s matinee, both Sam Houston and UTSA were pressing and trapping aggressively While the Roadrunners weathered the storm of pressure, the Bearkats eventually broke down against their bigger and stronger opponent. In the end, the Roadrunners outscored the visitors 26-10 on points off turnovers.

Jenkins, a power forward, was deployed to trap in the backcourt and came up with three of UTSA’s eight steals on the day.

“I think our press is getting better,” Aston said. “I think there are some things that are getting much better. But we need to take some really big steps … in the next couple of weeks. I mean, I know we have a lot of games. After we get through with finals week (next week) we have three games … in six days.

“But, to be honest, I’m more worried about what we’re doing in the next two weeks … to prepare for conference play. Whatever happens in these (next) three games (at Stanford, at home against UT Arlington and at Texas State) it just happens, because our focus needs to be on preparation for Dec. 29.”

UTSA opens play in the American Athletic Conference at Charlotte on Dec. 29.

Records

Sam Houston State 5-3
UTSA 7-1

Coming up

UTSA at Stanford, Monday, Dec. 16, 2 p.m.

First quarter

With both teams pressing and trapping, the period ended when the Roadrunners produced a 9-0 run in the final 2:20 for a 23-11 lead. Cheyenne Rowe and Maya Linton led the Roadrunners with six points apiece. Linton hit a three with 23 seconds left for the final bucket. Whitney Dunn scored nine in the period for the Bearkats. UTSA forced eight Sam Houston turnovers, while Sam Houston forced six by the home team.

Nina De Leon Negron. UTSA women's basketball beat Sam Houston State 79-36 on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

Point guard Nina De Leon Negron continued her strong play by running a fast-break attack and dishing out eight assists – Photo by Joe Alexander

Second quarter

After going scoreless for nearly five minutes, the Roadrunners finished strong, scoring nine points in the final 2:12 of the half. De Leon Negron had a couple of assists and ran for a twisting reverse layup in the last few minutes. Two 3-pointers by Dunn in the last minute kept the Bearkats close.

First half

Pressing and trapping, the UTSA Roadrunners forced 13 turnovers and turned them into 18 points as they opened a 38-23 lead on the Sam Houston State Bearkats. UTSA, playing aggressively, also outrebounded Sam Houston 25-9 and pulled down 13 boards off the offensive glass. Jordyn Jenkins finished the half with 11 points and Idara Udo had seven. Nina De Leon Negron, running the team at point guard, had five assists. Whitney Dunn had 16 points at intermission for Sam Houston.

Third quarter

UTSA’s defense was at its best after intermission, holding Sam Houston to one of 13 shooting and seven points. Playing as many as three freshmen at the end of the period, the Roadrunners outscored the Bearkats and took a 52-30 lead into the fourth.

Notable

The Roadrunners keep setting new standards for team success. Their program-best national NET ranking of 69th as of Saturday morning is destined to improve after another lopsided win. Moreover, their 7-1 start now ranks second only to an 11-1 in 1985-86.

Additionally, they have won two games in a row by more than 30 points each for the first time since 1996-97. UTSA downed Towson, 71-40, last Friday in Puerto Rico. Their 43-point margin of victory over Sam Houston was the largest since an 86-33 victory over Nicholls State on Jan. 14, 2008.

Jordyn Jenkins surpassed the 1,500-point mark in her college basketball career. She entered the day with 1,484 points over two seasons at USC and two-plus at UTSA. She now has 1,506 points in 93 games. UTSA center Idara Udo won the team’s “Cash In” award on her birthday.

UTSA played without 6-foot-4 redshirt senior forward Nyayongah Gony and junior guard Siena Guttadauro. Gony has an injury and sat out a game for the first time this season. Guttadauro won’t play again this season as she steps away for personal reasons. Guttadauro, who made the announcement Friday, has indicated she plans to return to the team for 2025-26, according to an athletics department release.

The California native had a solid summer and started the fall in UTSA’s point guard rotation behind Nina De Leon Negron and Sidney Love.

Kyleigh McGuire, a reserve forward on last year’s UTSA team that reached the WNIT, started for Sam Houston State. She finished with four points, five rebounds and two blocks. Forward Whitney Dunn finished as high scorer for the Bearkats with 16 points. She was held scoreless in the second half.

Sidney Love. UTSA women's basketball beat Sam Houston State 79-36 on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - Photo by Joe Alexander

UTSA junior Sidney Love had 10 points on four of seven shooting from the field. Love also had five assists against only two turnovers. – Photo by Joe Alexander

Men’s basketball: Arkansas rallies past UTSA, 75-60

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By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Arkansas Razorbacks shot 66.7 percent from the field after intermission, rallying from a five-point halftime deficit to down the UTSA Roadrunners, 75-60, on Saturday afternoon.

The Roadrunners traveled to Arkansas, looking to build on a solid performance in California earlier in the week.

Playing at Moraga, Calif., on Tuesday night, UTSA came back from a 23-point first-half deficit and nearly upset the defending West Coast Conference champion Saint Mary’s Gaels, before falling 82-74 in overtime.

Against the John Calipari-coached Razorbacks, the Roadrunners started the game much better, moving out to a 32-27 lead at intermission.

Hopes were high that they might be able to spring an upset and win a game against a power conference opponent for the first time in 15 years.

But after halftime, Arkansas found its shooting touch and outscored UTSA, 48-28.

Forward Adou Thiero led the Razorbacks with a career-high tying 26 points, and he also pulled down 10 rebounds. Florida Atlantic transfer Johnell Davis contributed 13 points and three assists.

For UTSA, Primo Spears and Marcus Millender gave the Razorbacks fits, especially in the first half. Spears finished with 19 points and Millender 18.

Guard Tai’Reon Joseph, making his UTSA debut after sitting out seven games on an eligibility issue, started the game for the Roadrunners. He had four points, two rebounds and three steals in 21 minutes.

The Roadrunners enjoyed their best moments in the first half, particularly in the last five minutes, when they outscored the Razorbacks 13-6.

Spears hit a couple of 3-pointers and Damari Monsanto nailed one during the stretch. Center Mo Njie dunked with 25 seconds left to boost UTSA into a 32-24 lead.

For Arkansas, DJ Wagner hit a three to bring the Razorbacks to within five at intermission.

In the second half, the Razorbacks went to Thiero early, and he responded. The 6-foot-8 forward dunked and completed a three-point play. Then he hit a jumper. Arkansas completed an 8-0 run when Davis knocked down a three.

As soon as Davis’ shot went down with 16:36 remaining, the Razorbacks flipped the scoreboard and took a 35-32 lead. The Roadrunners would not lead or tie again.

Records

UTSA 3-5
Arkansas 7-2

Coming up

North Dakota at UTSA, Friday, 7 p.m.

Energy boost: Guard Tai’Reon Joseph available to play for UTSA today

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Tai'Reon. The UTSA men's basketball team on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at the Convocation Center. - photo by Joe Alexander

Explosive UTSA guard Tai’Reon Joseph will be available to play today at Arkansas after sitting out the team’s first seven games. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Guard Tai’Reon Joseph is available to play for the UTSA Roadrunners today in a road game at the University of Arkansas.

Joseph, the leading scorer in the Southwestern Athletic Conference last season at Southern (La.), would be making his UTSA debut if he gets into the game against the John Calipari-coached Arkansas Razorbacks.

To this point, he has been ineligible, sitting out the team’s first seven games for what is believed to be academic reasons.

Joseph’s addition to the active roster is expected to supply UTSA with a boost of offensive firepower and another long-armed, perimeter defender.

The 6-foot-3 shooting guard from Baton Rouge rated as a four-star transfer prospect when he committed to the Roadrunners last spring.

Playing for Southern in 2023-24, he led the SWAC in scoring at 20.5 points per game, with 43.8 percent shooting. He also averaged 3.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals.

In 19 games, he scored in double figures 18 times, including 11 games with 20 or more.

During the summer and fall workouts with the Roadrunners, Joseph flashed his potential at open practices by using a quick step to get to the basket. He can dunk with authority.

Records

UTSA 3-4
Arkansas 6-2

Coming up

UTSA at Arkansas, today, 1 p.m.
North Dakota at UTSA, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.
UTSA at North Dakota, Dec. 15, 2 p.m.

Notable

In the opener of a two-game set against their toughest opponents to date, the Roadrunners rallied from a 23-point deficit to tie at the end of regulation before losing 82-74 Tuesday night at Saint Mary’s (Calif.)

Primo Spears scored 24 points, and Marcus Millender had 21 for the Roadrunners. Spears, a Florida State transfer, averages 23.7 points to rank fifth nationally.

The Razorbacks have wins over Lipscomb, Troy, Pacific, Little Rock, Maryland-Eastern Shore and Miami. Arkansas beat Miami 76-73 on Tuesday in Florida for its first win over a Power 4 team this season. Losses have come against Baylor and Illinois.

Rowe says UTSA’s focus has been on defense, defense and … defense

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Cheyenne Rowe. 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

Junior forward Cheyenne Rowe elevated her game in Puerto Rico last week, averaging nine points and four rebounds in wins over UNC Greensboro and Towson. UTSA hosts Sam Houston State Saturday at 1 p.m. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

For the surging UTSA women’s basketball team, one of the most important storylines to emerge from last week’s sweep of two games in Puerto Rico centered on the team’s high level of performance on the defensive end.

But as the Roadrunners returned to San Antonio and then started preparations for Saturday’s home game against the Sam Houston State Bearkats, the focus in practice didn’t seem to change. Not a bit.

Asked about the coaches’ points of emphasis this past week, reserve forward Cheyenne Rowe said succinctly:

“Team defense, team defense and team defense,” she said, smiling

It’s that simple, apparently. The goal is to cut off the Bearkats, who apparently have players who like to drive the ball.

Today, UTSA will be all about “making the court look small,” Rowe said. “Playing defense as a team. Helping each other out (and) being in help defense.

“Because there are so many drivers,” she said, “we have to be there for each other, and when we do that, we can get into good rebounding position.”

Sam Houston (5-2) and UTSA (6-1) will tip off at 1 p.m. in the Convocation Center. The Roadrunners have won six in a row, including a string of three straight wins when they have held opponents to an average of 45.3 points.

During that streak, UTSA has limited opponents to 32.6 percent shooting, including only 25.8 percent from the 3-point line.

After UTSA knocked off Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 62-43, on Nov. 20 in San Antonio, the team journeyed to Puerto Rico and walloped UNC Greensboro, 62-53, and Towson, 71-40, last Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Rowe said coaches didn’t let up in their drive to preach defense leading into this week’s one and only game against Sam Houston.

“Just because you’re doing good at something, doesn’t mean you stop working on it,” Rowe said. “So, that’s what we’re doing.”

With two relatively comfortable victories last week, another storyline emerged, with Head Coach Karen Aston going to the bench freely to play her reserve players.

The maneuver seemed to benefit Rowe, in particular, who produced eight points and five rebounds in 10 minutes against Greensboro and a career-high 10 points and three rebounds in 16 minutes against Towson.

In the two games combined, the 6-foot-2 junior from Ajax, Ontario in Canada hit eight of 14 shots from the field.

“One way to describe her compared to last year is that she’s comfortable with the system, the expectations and how we do things,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “She’s very comfortable, which enables her to play a little more (freely) and not worry about mistakes.

Continued Aston: “She’s in better shape. She’s spent a lot of time in the gym. Shoots a lot. She spent a lot of time this summer working on her game, and I think it’s just now starting to translate into games.”

UTSA has a talented frontcourt with Jordyn Jenkins headlining the group.

Jenkins, a high-scoring power forward, starts on the front line along with center Idara Udo. Backing up are Nyayongah Gony and Rowe, a second-year Roadrunner who started her college career with one season at James Madison.

Waiting in the wings is 6-foot-5 freshman Emilia Dannebauer.

After the team’s first four games, Rowe’s production was down, as her playing time fluctuated between seven and 14 minutes.

Staying on the floor was a challenge.

“I honestly don’t know what was going on,” she said. “It was just the nerves, probably. And then, now that I’m used to everything, my body’s used to it, game-time speed. Everything’s falling into place now, I think.”

Rowe’s talents range far beyond the basketball court.

In the classroom, she is one of the team’s brightest students, taking a double major in psychology and Japanese as a member of the UTSA honors college program.

While Rowe is fluent in Japanese, she also plays piano. Additionally, one of her long-range goals with the psychology major is to work for NASA one day.

A group on campus introduced her to the idea about a year ago.

“That’s when I realized that being a psychologist at NASA was a thing,” she said, “and I really love space and everything astro-physics, so I figured that would be a good combination of my two passions.”

Rowe is optimistic about the team’s continued success.

“Winning is always a really good feeling,” she said. “I think our team has realized where we’re at right now and I think we’re prepared to get in the gym and work harder, focus on what we need to improve on. Focus on our weaknesses and get better from there.”

Records

Sam Houston State (5-2)
UTSA (6-1)

Coming up

Sam Houston State at UTSA, 1 p.m.
UTSA at Stanford, Monday, Dec. 16, 2 p.m.

UTSA coach Karen Aston shrugs off ranking, saying, ‘We got a long way to go’

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Update: UTSA guard Siena Guttadauro announced through an athletics spokesman on Friday that she will be stepping away from basketball for the remainder of the 2024-25 season for personal reasons. Guttadauro is planning to return for the 2025-26 season, according to the statement.

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

In the wake of a six-game winning streak, the UTSA women’s basketball team landed at No. 57 nationally in the NCAA’s NET rankings earlier this week. The Roadrunners were 64th on Thursday when they took the floor for an afternoon workout at the Convocation Center.

Without data to know for sure, it’s likely the highest ranking for the UTSA women since the NET came into play in women’s basketball in 2020-21, when officials started to use it to help evaluate teams for selection and seeding in the NCAA tournament.

Regardless, UTSA is at least momentarily the highest NET-ranked team in The American Athletic Conference as it prepares to play a non-conference home game on Saturday against Sam Houston State.

Without placing too much emphasis on their top-64 stature in the first week of the metric’s publication, Roadrunners coach Karen Aston said it’s good to know her players and her program have been noticed.

“Anytime you’re in a better position than you’ve been in the past, it’s a good feeling,” she said. “Obviously you don’t put a lot of weight into it right now. But, I’m proud of where we are. No question, we have not been in that spot since I’ve been here, for sure.

“So, I’m proud of ’em and would like to see ’em get better.”

After UTSA, Tulane came in at No. 90, with South Florida at 99 and Temple 100 as the highest-ranked teams in the American, according to the rankings as they were published on Thursday morning.

“Yeah, it’s good to know that we’re in that position, but we also understand we got a long way to go,” Aston said. “You know, things happen, and you got to keep getting better. There’s a lot for us to (improve on) but we understand that.”

Part of the challenge this week centered on the team’s travel schedule. After traveling to Puerto Rico and beating North Carolina Greensboro and Towson last week, the Roadrunners returned home Sunday and faced a daunting challenge with their academic regimen.

Preparing for final exams scheduled next week is only part of the challenge for the Roadrunners.

“A lot of players, a lot of students in general, don’t really have a lot of finals anymore,” Aston said. “A lot of times, it’s really the week prior to finals that is really hard, because they have to turn in a lot of stuff, a lot of papers.

“Sometimes their last exam is this week instead of finals week. I’ve discovered that this is actually a harder week than finals week.”

Consequently, the players’ attention to detail at practice this week has been “up and down,” the coach acknowledged.

“Coming off the long road trip and having the week off, you’re anxious and maybe a little leery of them letting their guard down and losing an edge that they had before,” the coach said. “But, I mean, it is what it is. They’ll learn some lessons if they don’t have one on Saturday.”

Soon after Sam Houston State (5-2) beat McMurry 74-53 on Thursday, Aston gathered her Roadrunners (6-1) before practice started and told them about the Bearkats’ guard tandem of Kaila Kelley and Fanta Kone. Kelley scored 21 points in the win and Kone had 14 rebounds and 10 assists.

As a team, the Bearkats forced 30 turnovers against the War Hawks.

“They’re relentless,” Aston said. “They really pressure the ball. They play hard. They’re scrappy and real intentional at ball pressure. The live off of transition and turnovers, so it’ll be a challenge.”

Notable

After almost a year of analysis, the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee decided the time was right for full implementation of NET for 2020-21, with ratings percentage index (RPI) no longer being used.

RPI was created in 1981 to provide supplemental data for the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee in its evaluation of teams for at-large selection and seeding of the championship bracket. The Division I Women’s Basketball Committee began using RPI in 1984.