FORT WORTH, Texas — Senior Jordyn Jenkins poured in 20 points off the bench as the No. 4 seed UTSA women's basketball team narrowly bested No. 5 seed South Florida 58-56 in the 2024 American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinals on Monday inside Dickies Arena. The 'Runners now advance into the semifinals, where a 6 p.m. matchup against No. 9 seed East Carolina awaits on Tuesday.
The Roadrunners (17-13, 10-8 AAC) edged past the Bulls (19-14, 10-8 AAC), marking back-to-back seasons in which UTSA reached the semifinals of its conference tournament. The 'Runners have also achieved 17 wins on the year, marking the first time since the 2008-09 team went 24-9 en route to a Southland Conference Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. Additionally, will be making the 11th semifinal appearance in the program's history.
Jenkins went 9-for-16 from the field, collecting a team-high six rebounds in the process. Redshirt junior Elyssa Coleman and senior Kyra White each charted nine points, while White dished out seven assists with five rebounds. Also performing well, sophomore Sidney Love logged five assists with five rebounds.
Coleman got UTSA on the board first before a slugfest ensued that saw a 9-9 score line midway through the period. Jenkins tickled the twine to provide a slim Roadrunner lead, ahead of four straight USF points that flipped the script. Jenkins got another shot to fall and nailed a triple, affording the squad a 16-13 advantage. The Bulls then got a shot to fall at the buzzer, sending the contest into the subsequent stanza with a 16-15 score.
The battle raged on as White found Jenkins for an alley-oop and-one that issued a 24-20 UTSA lead. USF swiftly responded, tying things up and using a three-pointer to take a 27-24 advantage. Graduate student Hailey Atwood went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to wrap up the period, with USF taking a 27-25 lead into the locker room.
Multiple spurts in the third quarter allowed the Bulls to go up 42-36, but back-to-back makes for Jenkins kept the 'Runners within striking distance. USF, however, knocked down a triple before heading into the final frame with a 45-40 edge.
White opened the scoring in the third with a floater, and sophomore Siena Guttadauro converted from downtown to work a 45-45 deadlock. Jenkins and freshman Idara Udo followed that up with makes of their own, seeing a 49-45 UTSA lead. The Bulls hit back-to-back shots of their own to tie the contest ahead of another Guttadauro triple that put the Roadrunners back up. After trading blows, USF sunk a three-pointer to work a 58-56 score line, still favoring UTSA with under 20 seconds remaining in the quarter. A stellar defensive play by Jenkins allowed UTSA to secure the 58-56 victory and advance into the next round.
The Roadrunners will face the No. 9 seed Pirates (18-3, 9-9 The American), who have won five consecutive games in The American Championship. ECU prevailed at the 2023 edition of the championships and, in 2024, took down No. 8 seed Memphis 65-63 before upsetting No. 1 seed Tulsa 75-71 to advance into the semifinals.
Along the way, Danae McNeal made history, setting the tournament single-game steals record and tying the conference benchmark, swiping 10 to top the Golden Hurricanes. The Pirates also swatted 14 blocks against the Tigers for a new conference championship record. McNeal is the league's Defensive Player of the Year and was a first-team all-conference selection. Joining her in receiving league recognition, Tatyana Wyche was picked for the all-newcomer team.
McNeal ranks 16th across the NCAA, scoring 21.0 ppg at a 41.5% clip. Joining her on the AAC leaderboard, Wyche blocks 1.63 shots per game, which sits second, and Amiya Joyner's 11 double-doubles are third in the league. As a team, the Pirates are 14th in the nation, recording 5.1 blocks per game, are 24th with 10.7 steals per game, and are 24th, collecting 14.6 offensive rebounds each time out.
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.
-UTSA-