By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

Six days after the UTSA women’s basketball team defeated one regional rival, it’ll play another tonight, traveling into the central sector of San Antonio to face the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals.

Fifth-year UTSA coach Karen Aston says it’s important to schedule against UIW, the only other NCAA Division I women’s program in the city. – File photo by Joe Alexander

The Roadrunners and the Cardinals (both 1-2) will play at the McDermott Convocation Center on the UIW campus. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

Coming off last week’s 64-41 victory at home over the San Marcos-based Texas State Bobcats, the Roadrunners will see a few familiar faces when they face the Cardinals for the sixth time in the series between San Antonio’s two NCAA Division I women’s programs.

Cardinals guard Madison Cockrell played two years at UTSA to start her college career before entering the transfer portal after the 2023-24 season. After playing 27 games at UIW last year, the Dallas native has started all three games this season as a senior for first-year Cardinals head coach Jhasmin Player.

Player was a four-year standout at Baylor University, where she played as a sophomore in 2006-07 under a Kim Mulkey-led coaching staff that included Karen Aston, who is now the head coach in her fifth year with the Roadrunners.

“It’s crazy,” Aston said on her Monday teleconference call. “I’ve kind of forgot about that. She seems like such a (coaching) peer to me. You know, she’s been in the profession for quite some time. And she handles her coaching abilities just like she did when she was a player.

“I recruited her (as an assistant at Texas) and then had the privilege … to coach her for one year (at Baylor). She was a delight. She was a delight to coach. A delight to be around. A very positive light on our profession. And someone I think has a very, very bright future as a head coach.”

The Roadrunners and Cardinals started women’s basketball programs in the early 1980s.

While UIW opened in 1980 in the NAIA, the Roadrunners debuted in 1981 as an NCAA Division I independent. In their 45th season, they’ve established themselves as one of the top teams in the American Conference, having played in two straight national postseason tournaments.

They won the American’s regular-season title last season.

UIW, meanwhile, played initially in the NAIA before moving up to NCAA Division II in the 1990s. In 2012, the Cardinals accepted an invitation to NCAA Division I and the Southland Conference, becoming eligible for national and SLC tournaments in 2017-18.

Head to head, the Cardinals and the Roadrunners have played five times, with UTSA winning three and UIW two.

Both are undefeated at home against the other. In December of 2022, Aston’s Roadrunners led by 11 points in the third quarter and by eight entering the fourth on the home floor of the Cardinals, only to get beat, 56-53.

Dallas native Madison Cockrell, formerly of UTSA, is now a starter for the UIW Cardinals. Cockrell played two seasons at UTSA before entering the transfer portal in 2024. – File photo by Joe Alexander

“I know that it’s going to be a very challenging game at UIW,” Aston said. “It’s a rivalry-type game … We’ve experienced not so good things on the road (at UIW) before. So we’ll try to jog our players’ memory if they were there. If they weren’t, we’ll try to let ‘em know, it’s not an easy place to play. And then we’ll take another deep breath and get ready for the two games in Dallas.”

The Roadrunners will play in DFW-area Frisco next week. They’ll take on Auburn on Monday and Grand Canyon (Ariz.) on Wednesday at the Hoopfest Women’s Basketball Challenge. As for the matchup against UIW, Aston said it’s important to play the only other Division I program in the city.

“I think the (games) are natural, for us to play each other and benefit from high attendance … from community support,” Aston said. “I think that both Jhasmin and I are both trying to gain community support for our programs and really, to be honest with you, to gain support for women’s basketball in the city.”

Records

UTSA 1-2
UIW 1-2

Coming up

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