By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

UTSA women’s basketball players aren’t satisfied with playing just one good half during an otherwise uncomfortable 0-2 start to their season.

Because of their record, the Roadrunners are determined to kick-start a winning streak as they host the University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. in the first of three straight home games.

UTSA played its intra-city, NCAA Division I rivals on the UIW campus last year and romped to a 74-57 victory.

“We’ve played them in a scrimmage (earlier in the fall) and they’re very, very good,” UTSA coach Karen Aston said. “They’re a much, much improved team from last year, as I expected (with coach) Jhasmin (Player) taking over.”

The Roadrunners have won four of six meetings all-time against their intra-city rivals from the Southland Conference, including all three games in the series at home.

At the same time, UTSA is still looking for its first victory since it won the American Conference postseason title last season.

On a two-game road trip to play a pair of top 100-ranked teams, the Roadrunners started the season at UNLV, losing by a score of 69-51. They lost again on Sunday afternoon at San Diego State, 65-56.

In the opener, the Roadrunners were in contention for one quarter before an ineffective offense dragged them down. UTSA shot 26 percent from the field.

Against the Aztecs, they played better, but a 26-point deficit early in the second half was too much to overcome.

Now they’re faced with playing the resurgent Cardinals, who registered a 63-57 victory at Tulsa last Tuesday before losing 74-68 at UTEP on Saturday.

The win at Tulsa was an eye-opener, as the Golden Hurricane entered the season picked to finish fourth in the American.

Against UTEP, UIW trailed by two going into the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get it done down the stretch.

“Just a team that gives you a lot of problems because of their versatility, and their ability to get to the paint and draw fouls,” Aston said. “It’s not going to be an easy game at all.”

“It’s going to be a fun one. I think our ticketing group has worked hard to get a lot of youngsters in here for Education Day.”

Coming up

UIW at UTSA, Wednesday, 11 a.m.

Records

UIW 1-1
UTSA 2-0

Notable

Fans will get in free on “Education Day,” as the Roadrunners host UIW on Wednesday morning.

On Monday, in the second of three straight home games, a championship banner hailing last year’s run to the NCAA tournament will be unfurled before a 6:30 p.m. tipoff against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.

UTSA coach Karen Aston naturally hopes the fans will come out to support both events. But with her team still winless going into the week, she wants her players avoid losing sight of the main mission.

“We really need to get focused on playing better basketball and trying to win a couple of games,” she said.

UTSA completes the three-game homestand by hosting North Dakota State on Nov. 21.

From there, the Roadrunners will play their next eight away from San Antonio. First, they’ll travel to Puerto Rico over the holiday to take on Binghamton and Howard. After that, they’ll complete the non-conference schedule on the road at Baylor, TCU, Texas State and SMU. As play in the American begins, they’ll be on the road at FAU and South Florida before finally returning to the Convocation Center on Jan. 6 against North Texas.

After two games, the Roadrunners are struggling on offense, shooting 31.7 percent from the field and 24.4 percent from the three-point arc. Damara Allen leads UTSA with 15 points six rebounds per game. Allen scored 17 against UNLV and 13 against San Diego State. UTSA’s offense came alive in a 26-10 third quarter at San Diego State.

Taylor Ross, a redshirt sophomore from Brennan, scored seven of her career-high 12 points in the period.

“I’m excited about Taylor,” Aston said. “I mean, where she was her freshman season, at the end of it, was so exciting. And the summer she had before she hurt her knee last fall (in 2025), I could see the growth in her and the excitement building and what her potential was, and then she had the setback.”

Ross, who suffered the injury in the weeks leading into the 2025-26 season opener, spent last year in rehabilitation. Even though she has looked strong in offseason practices, she struggled in the opener at UNLV, going 0-for-5 from the field in a two-point outing.

“Her performance in the UNLV game didn’t catch me off guard at all,” Aston said. “I mean, (for Ross) it was the first time under the lights in over a year. You kind of want to say, she’s just a baby. She’s still kind of a freshman. So what she did from Game 1 to Game 2 is pretty remarkable, and I think it’s just going to continue.