By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

For the players and coaches on both benches, and for all the late-arriving fans walking into the McDermott Convocation Center on Wednesday night, the first thing that came to mind was the noise.

The University of the Incarnate Word band, rocking and rolling in the north west corner of the gymnasium, was loud. On top of that, the piped-in sound booming through the speakers hiked the decibel level a few more notches.

Then, when the 1,138 fans started to feel the emotion of a fast start by the home-team Cardinals, their voices only added to the cacophony.

The visiting UTSA Roadrunners, to their credit, kept their cool.

Steadying themselves after the Cardinals drained three 3-point baskets in the first three minutes, the Roadrunners gradually imposed their will on the proceedings and rolled to a 74-57 victory.

“I was really proud of our players,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “I thought it was a great atmosphere. I thought they did a great job of getting people in the stands. The band was good. It was a really good basketball atmosphere.”

For the Roadrunners, it was their second straight lopsided victory after winning at home last week by 64-41 against the I-35 rival Texas State Bobcats.

“Our players are learning kind of on the job right now,” Aston said. “I thought they handled it really well. Really well. I thought we played hard. We’ve got lots to work on, but that’s what we’re doing this week.”

Amped with emotion to play the defending champions in the American Conference, the Cardinals (1-3) kept the game close for one quarter until the Roadrunners (2-2) started to play with a little more aggression on the defensive end.

UTSA led 21-20 going into the second period and then blitzed UIW 20-9 in the next 10 minutes behind a scoring and rebounding binge from starting frontcourt players Cheyenne Rowe and Idara Udo.

Up by 12 at halftime, the Roadrunners never allowed the Cardinals to get closer than nine the rest of the way.

First-year UIW coach Jhasmin Player was still emotional after the game, talking about how it felt “incredible” to go up against one of her long-time basketball mentors.

As a high school standout in Bay City some 20 years ago, Player met Aston as a University of Texas assistant who was trying to recruit her to play for the Longhorns.

Though Player eventually signed with Baylor, their paths crossed a few years later when Aston joined head coach Kim Mulkey’s staff in Waco for one season.

The Lady Bears went 26-9 and reached the NCAA tournament that year. Player said it was incredible to work her fourth game as a college head coach against Aston, who has won 351 games in a little more than 17 seasons.

“Coaching against Karen was just one of the most incredible things,” Player said. “She is one of my favorite coaches ever. She was one of my favorite assistants (when I played). Now, as a head coach, she’s one I follow really closely because I always had such a high respect for her.

“I thought the atmosphere in here was great tonight. I think this is exactly what it needs to be all the time. I’m glad our kids at least gave us one really great quarter of competitive basketball. That first quarter was fun.”

A number of UTSA players made it extremely tough for UIW to sustain any momentum.

Rowe, who along with Udo was playing with foul trouble much of the second half, led the Roadrunners with a career-high 17 points. The ball often found her as the shot clock was winding down, but she almost always answered, hitting seven of 11 from the field.

Udo, for her part, produced 11 points and 13 rebounds. Senior guard Ereauna Hardaway, a UTSA newcomer, had 15 points, four rebounds and three assists in her best performance for the Roadrunners.

Not to be outdone, freshman guard Adriana Robles had 11 points and four assists. She hit four of five from the field.

Hardaway said it felt great to get a win.

“I felt like it was a great atmosphere,” she said. “It reminded me of when I was in high school. It’s not a big gym but the fans made it seem like there were a lot of people here. So it was a great atmosphere, a cross-town rivalry.”

In winning decisively, the Roadrunners reached their season-high in points. They out-rebounded the Cardinals 43-22 and pounded the ball into a zone defense to draw contact, which yielded 19 points at the line in 26 attempts.

“We’re building our chemistry,” Hardaway said. “As we continue to play, we’re learning to play with each other, building chemistry and gaining confidence in each other.”

Further underscoring the improvement of the offense, UTSA shot a season-high 52.1 percent from the field. If the Roadrunners could have cut down on a few of their 18 turnovers, they could have easily scored in the 80s.

“It’s practice translating into games,” Hardaway said. “It’s putting the work in, in practice and executing on the offensive end and trusting in our teammates to know what to do.”

Guard Destiny Whitaker led the Cardinals with 18 points and six rebounds. She hit three 3-pointers, all in the first quarter, including one from halfcourt at the first period buzzer. Jorja Elliott had 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Records

UTSA 2-2
UIW 1-3

Coming up

UTSA vs. Auburn, Monday, at Frisco, 4 p.m.
UTSA vs. Grand Canyon, Wednesday, at Frisco, 4 p.m.

Notable

Cardinals guard Madison Cockrell, a former player with the Roadrunners, did not dress out. She sat out with an injury after starting for UIW in its first three games.

UTSA forward Cheyenne Rowe has hit career highs in scoring in each of her last two games. She scored 16 against Texas State and added 17 against UIW. In her third season with the Roadrunners, Rowe is shooting 54 percent from the field.

Roadrunners coach Karen Aston said earlier this week that Rowe’s work in the summer always pays dividends

“One of my favorite things to talk about is … the time that they use in the summer, it all comes to light in the winter time,” Aston said, “and I think she’s a reflection of that. She always takes advantage of summer to make sure that her shooting is consistent, and her confidence is consistent with that.”

Recruiting

UTSA on Wednesday announced the signing guard Rihyana Kinsey from Waco La Vega. Previously, the Roadrunners signed forward-center Amaya McDonald from Braswell High School in Aubrey. McDonald’s hometown is Shreveport, La. Both are expected to join the team for the 2026-27 season.