UTSA women’s basketball team is getting plenty of well-deserved national attention after earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Roadrunners won the American Conference championship just days ago, marking their first conference title since 2009. UTSA has reached the NCAA Tournament only three times in program history, with its last appearance also coming in 2009.
KSAT Sports caught up with the Roadrunners at practice before their sendoff to Connecticut, where they will face UConn, the tournament’s No. 1 seed.
“We asked ourselves what we want to pride ourselves on and what principles we want to lean on during the tournament when things get hard,” said Idara Udo, a junior forward.
She said the team identified four core values: pride, mental toughness, growth and competitiveness.
“It came from a team meeting,” said Ereauna Hardaway, a senior point guard. “It means a lot. I know some people are thinking about getting it tattooed on them because it gave us a lot of confidence. After every game, reflecting on how we played and checking those four off means a lot to us.”
The four values came together just before UTSA played Rice in the conference championship game. Head coach Karen Aston said the idea developed organically from the team.
“I asked them what they want to get out of the rest of the year. We were obviously on our way to play Rice,” Aston said. “It kind of caught fire, to be honest with you. It was very unintentional, which is somehow how things work out for the best.”
The team said they hope to earn respect for what has been accomplished this season, if they haven’t already.
UTSA is set to face UConn at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 21. UConn will host.
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