SAN ANTONIO – Elyssa Coleman, Charlene Mass and Lapraisjah Johnson each scored 14 points to help UTSA women's basketball defeat UIW 66-60 - for the first win of the Coach Karen Aston era - on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center for the first win of the season.
UTSA posted the first win under Aston, a former Big 12 Coach of the Year during a 184-win career as the head coach at Texas. Aston, a former head coach at UT, Charlotte and North Texas is in her first year after taking over the program for the 2021-22 season and owns 286 career wins.
@CoachKarenA garnered her first win as the UTSA head coach with a 66-60 victory over UIW.#BirdsUp 🤙 #RunnersReborn pic.twitter.com/HMQjfSFpMk
— UTSA Women's Basketball (@UTSAWBB) November 21, 2021
The Roadrunners started the game with four consecutive points to take an early lead. UIW hit a 3-pointer at the 8:27 mark, then hit a scoring drought for almost four minutes as UTSA forced five turnovers and hit a 5-0 run to lead 9-3 with 6 minutes remaining. The Cardinals closed the gap to two (9-7), but the Roadrunners finished the quarter on a 4-2 run to lead 13-9.
UTSA opened the second on a 7-0 run to gain an 11-point advantage (20-9). For a two and a half minute span, UIW went on an 11-3 run to bridge the gap to three (23-20), but the Roadrunners finished on an 8-3 run to lead 31-23 at the half.
The second half was a battle for the ball the entire 20 minutes.
The Cardinals came out of the break on an 8-4 run as UTSA 35-31 at the 7:04 mark. The Roadrunners gained momentum and scored seven consecutive points to push the lead back to 11 (42-31). In the final four minutes, UIW scored two more points (9-7) than the Roadrunners to trail 49-39 going to the fourth.
Both teams struggled to find the basket in the fourth as neither team scored any points until the 6:31 mark when the Cardinals made a 3-pointer to close the gap to seven (49-42) and kept the momentum going as they outscored UTSA 12-4 to trail 53-51 at the 3:31 mark. The Roadrunners rallied with a 6-0 run led by Johnson to lead 59-51 with 55 seconds remaining. The battle continued in the final seconds as the Cardinals closed in once again, but it wasn't enough as UTSA held onto the lead until the final buzzer.
The Roadrunners return to the court Nov. 28 when they travel north to take on Minnesota.
Notes
- UTSA improves to 1-3 on the season
- Starters: Elyssa Coleman, Jadyn Pimentel, Queen Ulabo, Charlene Mass, Lapraisjah Johnson
- Elyssa Coleman recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds
- Coleman, Charlene Mass and Johnson led the team scoring 14 points each
-UTSA-