BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –The No. 6 Seed UTSA women’s basketball team did the improbable, winning four games in four days at the American Women’s Basketball Championship, claiming a 54-40 victory over No. 1 Seed Rice on Saturday to secure the title and punch their ticket to the NCAA National Championship Tournament.
UTSA will learn its seeding and first-round matchup when the full 68-team field, including the full seed list, and site assignments are announced at 7 p.m. CT on Sunday, March 15. The selection show will air on ESPN. The Roadrunners will play in their first NCAA tournament since 2009, which will mark the program’s third overall, after receiving automatic bids for winning the Southland Conference tournaments in 2008 and 2009. For the first time in program history, UTSA is competing in postseason play for the third consecutive year.
Senior Cheyenne Rowe was selected as the Most Outstanding Player of the American Conference Championship. Senior Ereauna Hardaway and junior Idara Udo were named All-Tournament Performers.
The Roadrunners (18-15, 9-9 American) took down the Owls (28-5, 17-1 American) as UTSA held Rice to their lowest scoring output of the season, marking the second consecutive game of limiting an opponent to its season low. The ‘Runners shot 42% to the Owls 27%. UTSA dominated points in the paint 32-14 and totaled a season-low eight turnovers.
The squad’s two seniors, Hardaway and Rowe led the Roadrunners in scoring with 13 points apiece. Rowe was UTSA’s leading rebounder with eight boards to complement two blocked shots, while Hardaway brought down five boards and dished out a team-high four assists. Udo added 11 points to go along with six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
Rowe opened the scoring, and a later bucket by her had UTSA up, 6-1 in the first. The Owls connected on back-to-back shots to pull within one. They hit from beyond the arc as time expired in the quarter for an 8-6 edge entering the second.
Rowe, Hardaway and freshman Adriana Robles made shots to start the subsequent stanza, as an 8-0 run had UTSA back in front, 14-8. The Owls sank a shot from deep, and sophomore Damara Allen got a shot to fall, reflecting a 16-11 score. UTSA finished the quarter strong, taking a 20-13 lead into the locker room.
After exchanging blows to start the third, UTSA used a 10-0 surge to go up 34-20. Rice snapped the scoring streak with a layup, prompting a Hardaway step-back trey that sparked a 6-0 stretch that put UTSA up 18. Rice scored the final four points in the frame for a 40-26 score at its conclusion.
The ‘Runners carried their momentum into the fourth, as an Allen jumper resulted in a 48-30 edge.
Rice would get no closer than 14 points for the remainder of the game, including the final 54-40 margin.
For more information about the 2026 American Basketball Championships, head to theamerican.org/feature/hoops-championships. A tournament central page is available at goutsa.com/AmericanChamps.
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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