EL PASO, Texas – The UTSA women's basketball team heads west to face UTEP on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. MT/2 p.m. CT in El Paso, Texas, at Don Haskins Center.
LEADING THE ROADRUNNERS
Junior Jordyn Jenkins leads the conference in scoring with 434 points, averaging 19.7 per game. Jenkins also leads the team with 168 rebounds and 30 steals. Redshirt sophomore Elyssa Coleman has done a phenomenal job on defense with a team-high 39 blocks, while also recording 144 rebounds and 213 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 102 assists, averaging 4.7 per game. White is fourth in the conference with a 1.56 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 6.7 rebound margin, outperforming its opponents by 894 rebounds to 747 rebounds. The Roadrunners also have a conference-high 40.64 rebounds per game.
LAST TIME OUT
The Roadrunners (6-16, 4-9 in C-USA) are coming off a huge 58-53 win over conference leader/No. 21 Middle Tennessee on Feb. 4 at home, their third ranked win in program history and highest-ranked win in program history.
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 continued 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. 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.
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 434 total points this season. The program record is 583 points by Tammy Rogers in the 1990-91 season. Jenkins has averaged 19.7 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 goals (157), points (434) and points per game (19.7). 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 MINERS
UTEP holds a 15-7 record (8-5 in C-USA action) after a 70-64 win over Charlotte on Wednesday. The Miners were picked to finish eighth in the conference in the preseason C-USA Coaches' Poll. UTEP has gone 3-2 in its last five games, including a 65-62 win over conference leader/No. 21 Middle Tennessee last week.
UTEP is second in the conference with 14.5 turnovers per game and third with a 3.45 turnover margin and 64.0 scoring defense. Jazion Jackson leads the Miners with 265 points, averaging 12.0 per game. Jackson also leads the team with 43 steals. N'Yah Boyd leads UTEP with 55 assists, while Adhel Tac has a team-high 144 rebounds, including 91 defensive boards.
SERIES HISTORY VS UTEP
The Roadrunners hold a 23-20 advantage over the Miners in the all-times series history. UTSA and UTEP last played each other on Jan. 11, 2023, when the Roadrunners fell to the Miners, 74-67, in a close loss. Jordyn Jenkins led the team with a career-high 37 points scored, adding 11 rebounds to that to complete her third double-double of the season. Jenkins also led the team with three blocks. Kyra White led the team with seven assists, while also contributing eight boards. The Roadrunners had the advantage in the paint with 32 points to 30 points. UTSA also led with 14 second chance points to UTEP's six.
UP NEXT: The Roadrunners return home to host Rice in UTSA's inaugural Pride Night on Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. CT.
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