SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA women's basketball team will open its 2021-22 season against SFA in a men's and women's doubleheader on Tuesday. Tipoff for the 40th anniversary season in program history is set for 5 p.m. at the Convocation Center. The game will be streamed live on CUSA.tv.
UTSA opens its season at home for the sixth-consecutive time. Last year the Roadrunners opened 2020-21 with an 80-37 win over Sul Ross State.
Rebuilding Culture
Head coach Karen Aston makes her coaching debut for UTSA in the 2021-22 season. Her career record is 285-146 (.661). Aston comes to UTSA with 13 years of head coaching experience, including stops at Charlotte, North Texas and Texas.
In her career, Aston's teams have averaged 22 wins per year and have made a combined 10 postseason appearances. She comes from an eight-season tenure at Texas where she is the second-winningest coach in program history. She averaged 24.6 wins per year in her last seven seasons with six NCAA Tournament appearances, helping her to earn the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2017.
Roadrunner Roster
UTSA returns eight players from last season, including Emilie Baek, Elena Blanding, Kennedy Harrell, Ceyenne Mass, Charlene Mass, Kyleigh McGuire, Shannan Mitchell and Yuliyana Valcheva.
Nine newcomers suit up for the Roadrunners, including Hailey Atwood, Ndeye Ciss, Elyssa Coleman, Chantel Govan, Leslie Hunter, Lapraisjah Johnson, Deborah Nwakamma, Jadyn Pimentel and Queen Ulabo.
41st Season Slate
The Roadrunners' 2020-21 schedule includes 13 home games. The team's road slate features a trip up north to Minnesota, a jet west for a tournament at Arizona State and a coastal cruise for the UTRGV South Padre tournament.
UTSA will face a variety of Texas school this season, including SFA, Abilene Christian, Texas State, UIW, UTRGV, Texas A&M, Rice, North Texas and UTEP.
Last Meeting
This marks the 43rd all-time meeting between UTSA and SFA. The Roadrunners last met the Ladyjacks in Nacogdoches on Feb. 11, 2012, when SFA topped UTSA 73-64.
Scouting the Ladyjacks
SFA is returning 10 letter winners from last season including 2020-21 All-Southland Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team selection Stephanie Visscher. The Lulea, Sweden native led the Ladyjacks last season in scoring with 12.6 points per game, assists (3.1), steals (2.4) and minutes per game with 28.9.
SFA clenched the 2020-21 Southland Conference Championship title in a 56-45 win over Sam Houston before losing a 54-52 overtime decision to Georgia Tech in first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Ladyjacks averaged 80.2 points per game last season with 38.7 rebounds, 13.2 steals and 4.9 blocks.
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