FORT WORTH, Texas – The 2024-25 American Athletic Conference regular-season champion UTSA women’s basketball team is set to enter the American Women’s Basketball Championships in the quarterfinals against Rice at noon on Monday after earning a double-bye and the No. 1 seed via a 17-1 league record.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with Krista Blunk (Play-By-Play) and Aja Ellison (Analyst) on the call. Neal Raphael will deliver all the action on the radio in the greater San Antonio area on The Bull 93.3 FM and worldwide on the iHeartRadio app.
The Roadrunners (26-3, 17-1 The American) wrapped up the campaign with a program record 26 overall wins, and 17 conference wins tied the 2002-03 squad, who went 17-3.
The squad collected a slew of postseason accolades, as redshirt senior Jordyn Jenkins earned Player of the Year, Karen Aston was chosen unanimously as Coach of the Year, and graduate student Nina De Leon Negron picked up Newcomer of the Year honors. Additionally, sophomore Idara Udo was selected for the all-conference second team.
UTSA is primed for a tournament run, having spent the majority of the season ranked inside the top 25 on the NCAA leaderboard in several categories, sitting ninth in rebound margin (9.4), 11th in offensive rebounds per game (15.8), 12th in winning percentage (.897), 22nd in scoring defense (55.9), 23rd in rebounds per game (40.7) and 24th in field goal percentage defense (36.8). The Roadrunners also wrapped up the regular season with a NET of 66, their highest at the conclusion of a campaign.
After topping East Carolina to finish out conference play, Jenkins sat 35th in the NCAA with 18.7 PPG and 524 total points were 54th. She’s also 54th in field goals at 191, and 117 free throws made were 59th. De Leon Negron ranked 32nd with 5.2 APG and 145 dimes on the year, which was 40th.
The Owls (15-16, 7-11 The American) received the No. 9 seed in the tournament and took down No. 8 seed UAB, 76-63, on Sunday in the Second Round to advance into the quarterfinals.
Rice remains undefeated in all American Women’s Basketball Championship contests, going 5-0 after winning last year’s tournament.
The Owls and Roadrunners met twice this season, with UTSA picking up both victories, first picking up a 67-58 win in San Antonio before topping them 57-55 in Houston.
Rice ranks 18th across the country with 41.4 RPG, and 29 defense rebounds per game are 14th. Dominique Ennis and Malia Fisher provide the bulk of the scoring, with Ennis averaging 12.4 PPG and Fisher 12.0. Hailey Adams commands the board to the tune of 7.5 RPG, and Fisher is not far behind at 6.4 RPG. Defensively, Victoria Flores leads the way with 39 steals, and Sussy Ngulefac boasts 30 blocks during the year. Additionally, the Owls raked in the accolades, with Fisher receiving a first-team all-conference selection and an all-defensive pick, Ennis making the second-team, Flores the all-newcomer squad, and Aniah Alexis cracking the all-freshman team.
Keep up with UTSA Women's Basketball on goutsa.com and by following the program on Facebook at /UTSAWBB, X (Twitter) @UTSAWBB, and on Instagram @UTSA_WBB.
-UTSA-