SAN ANTONIO – Not many athletic programs contend for conference titles in just their second year of existence. But that’s exactly where the Texas A&M University-San Antonio women’s basketball team finds itself, entering the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed.
“We’re going to play for national championships,” TAMUSA head coach Chris Minner said. “That’s what’s going to happen. Hopefully, we get to national tournament here in year two. We’re close.”
The Jaguars (21-7, 17-4 RRAC) built momentum this offseason by adding veteran transfers under Minner, making the program into a more experienced postseason contender.
Now, they set their sights on a program-first postseason victory in Wednesday’s RRAC Tournament opener against Texas College.
The first-round game tips off at 6 p.m. at the TAMUSA Recreation Center in San Antonio, giving the Jaguars a home-court advantage in the quarterfinals.
Texas College won the teams’ first meeting this season, but TAMUSA responded with a dominant 40-point victory in the rematch.
“We’re going in with high confidence,” Jaguars junior forward Kierra Sanderlin said. “We’re ready. We’ve seen that we can beat these teams. It’s kind of hard to play them the third time, but we’re ready going in with high confidence.”
“Compared to last year, being in fourth and coming second and also beating the No. 1 team in the conference, I think our confidence is pretty good right now, knowing that we can we have a chance to beat everybody,” junior forward Aniyah Lewis added.
“Expect us to kind of net down and come back with the ring,” senior point guard Evelyn Lorenzo said.
A win Wednesday would send TAMUSA to the RRAC semifinals and keep their pursuit of a deep run — and potential first NAIA national tournament appearance — alive in only the program’s second season.
The TAMUSA men’s basketball team is also back in the RRAC tournament, where they’ll face LSU-Shreveport on the road at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.