SAN ANTONIO – For the first time in seven years, the UTSA women's basketball team earned a victory over a nationally ranked opponent, taking down No. 21 Middle Tennessee, 58-53, on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center. This is the Roadrunners' third ranked win in program history, all on their home court.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GAME
The Roadrunners now have three ranked wins in program history and all three have been on UTSA's home court at the Convocation Center. UTSA earned their first ranked win on Jan. 24, 2015, when the Roadrunners defeated No. 24 WKU, 64-63. The Roadrunners' last ranked win was on March 3, 2016, when they defeated No. 25 UTEP, 69-64. This win over No. 21 Middle Tennessee is the highest ranked win in UTSA program history. This is also UTSA's first win over Middle Tennessee in 10 games played against each other.
According to Her Hoop Stats, UTSA is the first team to hold an opponent to 10 or fewer 3-pointers on 50+ attempts since UConn did it to Saint Francis (PA) in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, and only the fifth time since 2009-10. Middle Tennessee attempted 54 three-point baskets, only making 10 of those.
Jordyn Jenkins led the team with 20 points and 16 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season. Elyssa Coleman also put up a double-digit scoring game with 18 points. Kyra White collected a career-high 13 rebounds, while leading the team with eight assists.
The Roadrunners continue to dominate in the paint, outscoring the Lady Raiders by 26 points to 12 points. UTSA outrebounded Middle Tennessee by 50 rebounds to 40 rebounds. The Roadrunners earned 30 free throw chances, banking 21 of those for 70 percent at the charity stripe. The Lady Raiders were given 15 chances at the charity stripe, converting nine of those. UTSA had one more field goal in 29 less chances than Middle Tennessee, going 18 for 46 from the field while MTSU went 17 for 75. The Roadrunners also took advantage of a fatigued Lady Raiders defense as UTSA saw 20 fast break points to Middle Tennessee's five.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GAME
The Lady Raiders opened up scoring as they sank a layup and three-pointer to take a 5-0 lead early. The Roadrunners quickly responded to make it a two-point game, but then Middle Tennessee extended their lead to eight. UTSA continued to chop away as they went on a six-point run to once again cut its deficit to two points, complete with a Jenkins jump shot with 53 seconds left in the first quarter, ending the quarter with a score of 11-9 with MTSU leading.
Middle Tennessee once again tried to jump out to significant lead but UTSA was right behind them to answer every time. Two made free throws by Siena Guttadauro with 6:54 on the clock gave UTSA their first lead of the game (12-11). The Lady Raiders quickly regained the lead on six-point scoring run. With Middle Tennessee up by seven with less than three minutes left, the Roadrunners went on a six-point scoring run, started with a pair of made free throws by Coleman and ended with a driving layup by Coleman, to cut the deficit to just one point once again. The game went to halftime with Middle Tennessee leading 22-21.
Coming back from the break, Jenkins immediately gave UTSA the lead with a jump shot at 9:15. From here, the Lady Raiders went on a 11-point scoring run and even jumped out to a 11-point lead at 4:54 in the third quarter. The Roadrunners didn't fall back as they went on a 10-2 scoring run to tie the game up at 39-39 with 18 seconds left in the quarter. A couple free throws by Middle Tennessee gave them a 41-39 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
The fourth quarter was a battle as the score saw seven lead changes and two tie scores in the final 10 minutes. Although the lead bounced back and forth for the first six minutes, the turning point for the Roadrunners began with 3:54 on the clock and a jumper by Coleman. From this point on, UTSA took the lead and didn't look back. The Roadrunners jumped out to a seven-point lead with 18 seconds left as Deborah Nwakamma sank two free throws. Middle Tennessee sank a three-point basket shortly after to cut UTSA's lead to four points. Coleman made another free shot to extend the Roadrunners' advantage to five points. The Lady Raiders attempted another shot with three seconds left but it fell short as UTSA went on to earn the 58-53 victory over No. 21 Middle Tennessee.
UTSA's record improves to 6-16 overall (4-9 in C-USA action), while Middle Tennessee's record falls to 18-4 overall (11-2 in conference play).
UP NEXT: For the first time during this conference season, the Roadrunners are only scheduled for one game next week, facing UTEP in El Paso, Texas, next Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. (CT).
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