Cheyenne Rowe leads the Roadrunners with 13.7 points and also averages 7.5 rebounds. After a stirring comeback victory against Grand Canyon (Ariz.) last week, UTSA plays a home game Wednesday night against the four-time defending Mountain West champion UNLV Lady Rebels. – File photo by Joe Alexander

By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Six days have passed since the UTSA women registered a stunning comeback victory against the Arizona-based Grand Canyon Lopes in Frisco, and players are still talking about it.

Especially about how Roadrunners forward Cheyenne Rowe took over the game in the final minutes.

“Honestly, it wasn’t a shocker to me,” UTSA guard Jayda Holiman said Tuesday, on the eve of a Wednesday night home game against the UNLV Lady Rebels. “You know, Cheyenne, she’s a big-time player. She does those things. She does it in practice all the time.”

Trailing by 10, UTSA outscored Grand Canyon 18-7 in the final 3:35 to win by one. Rowe scored 10 of her career-high 20 points in the final 2:03 to punctuate the Roadrunners’ 65-64 victory.

“We know, when it’s time, it’s time for Cheyenne Rowe to go,” Holiman said. “I really trust Chey as a player. She works hard. Always. Has a great attitude as well. I really respect her.

“Honestly, it was just Chey being Chey.”

The defending American Conference champion Roadrunners will need another big effort to beat the Lady Rebels, who have won four straight Mountain West regular-season titles.

UNLV (4-3) has won two straight games, beating Creighton and Northern Iowa off campus last week in Las Vegas.

The Rebels opened the season with victories at home over Washington State and DePaul, before losing three straight against Baylor, Montana State and Arizona State. UNLV lost to nationally-ranked Baylor at home and the other two on the road.

UTSA (3-3) has played fairly consistently on the defensive end lately while struggling at times to put up points on offense.

At Frisco, in the Hoopfest Women’s Basketball Challenge, the Roadrunners turned it over 30 times in losing their opener to Auburn, 59-42.

After a 48-hour break, they defeated Grand Canyon, 65-64, winning on Rowe’s two free throws with seven seconds left and a defensive stop in the paint just before time expired.

Records

UNLV 4-3
UTSA 3-3

Coming up

UNLV at UTSA, Wednesday, 7 p.m.
UTSA at Baylor, Sunday, 2 p.m.

Notable

Both UTSA and UNLV are in transition from last year’s championship seasons.

Of the nine UTSA players in the rotation now, only Idara Udo was a starter for the team that won a school-record 26 games a year ago and advanced to the WBIT.

Returners in expanded roles this season include forwards Rowe and Emilia Dannebauer and guards Damara Allen and Mia Hammonds.

UNLV also reached last year’s WBIT, and only two Lady Rebels who played in the second-round loss to Florida were on the floor in their most recent game against Northern Iowa — 6-2 forward Meadow Roland and guard Aaliyah Alexander.

Roland, who scored 25 against Creighton and 17 against Northern Iowa, leads the Lady Rebels with 16.3 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. Guards Jasmin Lott (13.3) and Aaliyah Alexander (12.0) are also double-figures scorers.