SAN ANTONIO — On Sunday, the UTSA women's basketball team put on a clinic, using a career-high 23 points by senior Elyssa Coleman to take down UTEP, 90-66, in nonconference action inside the Convocation Center. The win represents the first time the 'Runners have scored 90 points since a 97-47 win over Sul Ross State on Nov. 10, 2017. Additionally, the 24-point win represents the largest margin of victory in the Karen Aston era at UTSA.
The Roadrunners (5-3, 0-0 AAC) dominated the Miners (4-5, 0-0 C-USA), leading wire-to-wire as Coleman shot an incredibly efficient 11-for-13, helping the team go 58% from the field. The squad also sunk eight three-pointers for their highest total of the season.
Joining Coleman in the double-digit points club, sophomore Sidney Love posted 16 points, marking her sixth straight game achieving the feat, while classmate Siena Guttadauro and senior Kyra White each charted 12.
White and Love tied for a game-high seven assists, while Coleman was superb on the glass to the tune of eight rebounds. Defensively, senior Nissa Sam-Grant recorded a trio of blocks, and White swiped a steal. Additionally, freshman Emma Lucio logged her first collegiate bucket after sinking a triple in the fourth quarter.
Coleman started off hot, sinking a trio of shots to kick-start the first quarter before a coast-to-coast layup by Love put UTSA up 8-0. UTEP snapped the surge with a bucket of their own, ahead of another 6-0 run featuring makes by graduate student Hailey Atwood, sophomore Cheyenne Rowe, and Coleman that put UTSA ahead 16-6. Love and Guttadauro each knocked down triples as the frame neared its conclusion with a 26-13 advantage, representing the highest-scoring opening stanza of the season for UTSA.
The 'Runners remained scorching, using a sophomore Madison Cockrell three-pointer to collected a 36-15, 21-point advantage. UTSA shot 61% across the first half, with Guttadauro nailing a fast-break triple for a 43-22 edge midway through the second quarter. Coleman then capped off the squad's best start across the 2023-24 campaign with a three-pointer, taking UTSA into the locker room up, 48-31.
After exchanging blows to start the third, another 6-0 spurt with baskets by Sam-Grant, Love, and freshman Aysia Proctor allowing the squad to take a 62-42 lead. Shortly after, a White layup finished the quarter with the 'Runners owning a 65-46 edge.
A Guttadauro three-pointer then put UTSA up by 24 in the fourth quarter, with a senior Kyleigh McGuire layup shortly after issuing an 84-57 score line. From there, the Miners knocked down back-to-back shots before Lucio and Guttadauro supplied consecutive triples for a 90-61 lead, the largest of the day. UTEP scored the final five points of the contest en route to a 90-66 final score.
The Roadrunners will wrap up their home nonconference slate after taking a week to rest, next meeting Houston on Thursday Dec. 14, with a 6 p.m. start time in the Convo.
Keep up with UTSA Women's Basketball all season long on goutsa.com and by following the program on Facebook at /UTSAWBB, X (Twitter) @UTSAWBB, and on Instagram @UTSA_WBB.
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