By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Discombobulated and not playing very well most of the afternoon, the UTSA women pulled it together in the final minutes Saturday to win their 20th game of the season, posting a 60-49 road victory over the Wichita State Shockers.
As a result, the Roadrunners improved to 20-3 for their first 20-win season in 16 years and only the fourth in 44 years of program history. They also maintained the lead in the American Athletic Conference at 11-1.
UTSA hopes to win the AAC title and reach the NCAA tournament this year, but reaching 20 wins has always been a goal for a coaching staff that took over a 2-18 team when it arrived in 2021.
“We’ve talked about it since we got here four years ago,” UTSA coach Karen Aston told Neal Raphael on the team’s radio broadcast. “It’s just something that I think is a benchmark of a good basketball team and a successful season.
“The kids knew that. Maybe they were a little anxious about it. I don’t know. They really wanted to get to 20, and they did it.”
With a 13-1 record in their last 14 games, the Roadrunners’ AAC title quest continues Wednesday night when they host the East Carolina Pirates at the Convocation Center. They’ll play two at home next week, including a game against Memphis on Saturday, Feb. 15.
With the game against Wichita State tied midway through the fourth period, statistics showed that the Roadrunners had made only nine of 49 shots from the field to that point.
But they shrugged it off and hit five field goals on their next five possessions to take charge against a team that was tied for last in the conference.
It started when Nina De Leon Negron pushed the pace on a breakout, feeding Jordyn Jenkins for a layup. After Jayla Murray sank a three from the left wing to give the Shockers a 43-42 lead, Roadrunners’ sophomore Aysia Proctor answered with a three out of the left corner.
Following a miss by Wichita State, forward Idara Udo sank a layup off a feed from Jenkins, pushing UTSA’s lead to four. Shockers guard Taylor Jameson attacked on the other end and hit a crazy, no-look flip shot from under the basket to make it a two-point game.
At that point, the Roadrunners sensed a victory was at hand and would not be denied. First, Sidney Love sliced inside and flipped in a finger roll. When Wichita State turned it over on the next possession, Love again responded, catching a feed from De Leon Negron and laying it in for a 51-45 advantage.
Wichita State made one last push to stay in the game when Maimouna Cissoko, the sister of former Spurs guard Sidy Cissoko, sprinted ahead for a layup. When it fell, UTSA’s lead had been trimmed to four and the Shockers had some momentum.
But as Love brought the ball up for the Roadrunners, she was contested by a defender at halfcourt and drew a foul. Shockers coach Terry Nooner vocally protested the call and was hit with a technical. As a result, the Roadrunners were awarded four free throws — two for the personal foul and one for the tech — and made three of them.
They also were awarded the next possession, and they capitalized when Jenkins followed a miss to make it a nine-point game with 1:48 left. The Shockers never threatened again.
First half
Salese Blow scored 11 points over the opening two quarters and Wichita State held sluggish UTSA to 23 percent shooting. As a result, the Shockers took a 27-23 advantage into the dressing room at halftime.
Looking for answers and, perhaps, a hot hand shooting the ball, UTSA coach Karen Aston sent 11 players into the game. But the results were not pretty. The Roadrunners hit only six of 26 from the field and two of 11 from three.
Meanwhile, the last-place Shockers did just enough to give themselves a cushion. They fell behind early, but then took advantage of sloppy play from the Roadrunners to kick the lead up gradually to nine points in the second quarter.
Idara Udo led the Roadrunners with six points and four rebounds. Jordyn Jenkins had five points on one of six shooting. The Shockers did a good job on Jenkins, forcing multiple turnovers when the Roadrunners tried to pass inside to her.
Records
UTSA 20-3, 11-1
Wichita State 8-17, 2-10
Coming up
East Carolina at UTSA, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.
Memphis at UTSA, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2 p.m.