UTSA men's and women's basketball team both notch first wins in conference play Saturday
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The Roadrunner basketball teams are no longer looking for their first conference wins. Both the UTSA men and UTSA women got their first win in American Conference play on Saturday afternoon.
Elyssa Coleman and the Roadrunner women were the first to claim their inaugural conference win with a 74-60 win over Wichita State in the Convocation Center. That win gave the women an overall record of 7-7 and 1-2 in conference play.
About 20 minutes after the women won, the UTSA men's basketball improved to 7-8 and 1-1 in conference play with an overtime win in Houston against Rice.
It is the second time this season that UTSA's mens and womens basketball teams both won on the same day. The last time both won conference games on the same day was March 2, 2023.
Since the start of last season UTSA men and women have won on the same day four times after only having one such day between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons.
UTSA Women 74, Wichita State 60
The Roadrunner women opened the game against Wichita State with a 10-0 run and never trailed on their way to a 14-point victory. UTSA lead 19-8 after one quarter and then held on as the Shockers whittled away at the deficit in the second and third quarters. UTSA was able to go into the halftime break with a 33-30 lead after Wichita State had outscored the Roadrunners 22-14 in the second quarter.
Wichita State cut the Roadrunner lead to one point, 50-49, by the end of the third quarter. The Shockers were unable to take the lead early in the fourth quarter as the Roadrunners opened the final quarter on a 6-0 run to push their lead to 56-49.
Elyssa Coleman led the Roadrunners with a career high 32 points and 19 rebounds. Sidney Love added 16 points and Kyra White scored 12 points. White came one rebound short of a double-double.
Next up for the Roadrunner women is a trip to Florida Atlantic on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. The Roadrunners next home game will be next Sunday, January 14 at 2 p.m. against Charlotte.
UTSA Men 89, Rice 82 F/OT
There was a change of venue for UTSA at Rice on Saturday afternoon. Water damage at Rice's Tudor Fieldhouse has left the Owls men and womens teams to seek alternate venues this week.
Rice's women were able to play their conference game on Wednesday night at the University of Houston's Fertitta Center but UTSA and Rice men's teams did not have that option as the Cougars were hosting West Virginia an hour before UTSA and Rice's scheduled tipoff.
Instead, the Roadrunners and Owls met two miles from Tudor Fieldhouse at the Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center on the campus of the University of St. Thomas.
UTSA got out to a fast start and built their largest lead of 11 points, 23-12, with 8:57 left in the first half. The Roadrunner lead hovered around 10 points for the next two minutes. After the Roadrunners took a 28-18 lead with 6:55 left in the first half the Owls began a run that covered the rest of the first half as they erased the Roadrunner lead and took a 41-38 lead into halftime.
The Owls opened the second half on an 11-4 run to go up by 10, 52-42 with 15:20 on the clock. The Roadrunners then went on an 13-1 run to retake the lead, 55-53, with 11:31 left in the second half.
UTSA and Rice traded the lead back and forth the rest of the second half and were tied six times in the final 11 minutes of regulation. The final tie came thanks to a pair of free throws from Jordan Ivy-Curry that evened the score at 77 and forced overtime.
In the overtime period UTSA never trailed and were tied only once before pulling away late with the seven-point victory. Carlton Linguard led the Roadrunners with 24 points. Dre Fuller Jr. scored 23 points. Ivy-Curry added 15 points and Christian Tucker was the fourth Roadrunner in double figures with 10 points.
UTSA will continue its road-trip on Wednesday night with a visit to the Memphis Tigers at 7 p.m. The Roadrunners next home game will be next Saturday when they host Charlotte at 7 p.m. in a game televised nationally on ESPNU.
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
