SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA women's basketball team is set to host Rice in the Roadrunners' inaugural Pride Night on Thursday. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN+ at the Convocation Center.
UTSA Athletics hosts its very first Pride Night, including special giveaways and recognitions. Giveaways for fans include Pride flags and stickers. Members of the San Antonio Pride Committee, LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Governors of Human Rights Campaign Board and Pride San Antonio will be recognized for the game ball presentation.
LEADING THE ROADRUNNERS
Junior Jordyn Jenkins leads the conference in scoring with 444 points, averaging 19.3 per game. Jenkins also leads the team with 177 rebounds and 30 steals. Redshirt sophomore Elyssa Coleman has done a phenomenal job on defense with a team-high 41 blocks, while also recording 150 rebounds and 232 points (second on the team in both categories). Coleman owns the top single-game blocks in the conference this season, recording a high of six blocks against FIU on Jan. 21.
Junior Kyra White leads the Roadrunners with 104 assists, averaging 4.6 per game. White is fifth in the conference with a 1.57 assist/turnover ratio. Freshman Sidney Love has the second-most assists on the team (40) and third-most points (177). UTSA is first in the conference with a 6.2 rebound margin, outperforming its opponents by 930 rebounds to 786 rebounds. The Roadrunners also have a conference-high 40.43 rebounds per game.
LAST TIME OUT
The Roadrunners (6-17, 4-10 in C-USA) are coming off a 79-52 loss to UTEP on Feb. 11. Elyssa Coleman led the team with 19 points while also collecting six boards. Jordyn Jenkins was the only other Roadrunner to score in double digits, putting up 10 points along with a team-high nine rebounds. UTSA performed well at the free-throw line, going 16-for-19 for 84.2 percentage at the line. The Roadrunners also outscored the Miners with 12 second-chance points to 11.
RECORD WATCHING
Jordyn Jenkins put up a career-high 37 points against UTEP on Jan. 11, 2023. The school single-game record is 41 points in a game by Tesha Smith against Florida Atlantic on Feb. 25, 2017. Jenkins currently has 444 total points this season. The program record is 583 points by Tammy Rogers in the 1990-91 season. Jenkins has averaged 19.3 points per game this season. The school record is 20.7 per game by Starlite Williams in 1986-87.
With 298 career wins, head coach Karen Aston is just two wins away from 300 career wins.
JINKIES FOR JENKINS
Jordyn Jenkins has been named the Conference USA Player of the Week three times this season – Nov. 28, Dec. 19, and Dec. 26. Scoring a career-high 37 points against UTEP on Jan. 11, Jenkins owns the conference single-game best this season. She leads the conference in multiple categories – field goal percentage (47.3), field goals (159), points (444) and points per game (19.3). Amongst all Division I schools in Texas, Jenkins is the highest scoring student-athlete.
Newcomer Jenkins was named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Preseason Watch List, the first Roadrunner to earn that honor. The Becky Hammon Award was first given out in 2020 and aims to celebrate those playing in the 26 mid-major conferences.
Jenkins is a transfer from the University of Southern California, where she played the last two seasons. At USC, she led the team offensively in almost every category while starting in 26 of 28 games in 2021-22. Jenkins led the Trojans in total points (384/14.8 per game), free throws made (110) and field goals made (134). The Kent, Wash., native was named the Pac-12 Most Improved Player, as well as earning All-Pac 12 Honors at the end of the season.
SCOUTING THE OWLS
Rice holds a 17-6 record (8-6 in C-USA action) after a 67-58 win over FIU on Saturday, Feb. 11. The Owls currently sit in fourth in the conference standings, behind Middle Tennessee, WKU and UTEP. Senior forward Ashlee Austin was named to the preseason All-Conference Team. Rice has won four of its last five games, including two straight in its last two against Florida Atlantic and FIU.
Austin leads the Owls with an average of 12.9 points per game, while Malia Fisher leads Rice in total scoring (295 points) and 168 rebounds. Destiny Jackson has a team-high 81 assists and 37 steals. Freshman Dominique Ennis was named the C-USA Freshman of the Week on Monday, after making her first two starts last week and recording career-highs in points (12) and steals (5) against Florida Atlantic.
SERIES HISTORY VS RICE
The Owls hold the 15-10 advantage over the Roadrunners in the all-times series history. UTSA and Rice last played each other on January 16, 2023, when the Roadrunners fell to the Owls, 78-76. Jordyn Jenkins led the team with 26 points and eight rebounds, while also recording a team-high three blocks. Elyssa Coleman and Kyra White also put up double digits in the game, scoring 12 points and 11 points respectively.
UP NEXT: The Roadrunners hit the road for a pair of games in the next five days. UTSA will first face UAB in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday at 1 p.m., before playing North Texas in Denton, Texas, on Feb. 20 at 6:30 p.m.
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