🤙 The Official Newsletter For UTSA Athletics

Good morning, ‘Runners Nation. “If you can’t fly then run, If you can’t run then walk, If you can’t walk then crawl, But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Today, we pause to honor a man who moved our country and our society forward in so many ways.

As we celebrate victories, moments, and stories in each and every Brew, let us remember those who helped pave the paths before us. 

This morning, we hope you enjoy this bite or, rather, sip-sized ‘Runners Brew. (Think of it as a single shot of the Orange & Blue)

We’ll be back with your Venti-sized edition on Wednesday.

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 99 Problems But the 49ers Ain’t One. As the clock winded down in double-overtime, a freshman Idara Udo game-winner allowed the UTSA women's basketball program to take down the American Athletic Conference's top squad, with the Roadrunners besting Charlotte, 81-80 on Sunday inside the Convocation Center.   

Following a 49er three-pointer with 13 seconds on the clock, Udo hauled in an offensive rebound and got a second-chance layup to fall, handing UTSA the lead with 1.8 seconds remaining. The Roadrunners then swarmed Charlotte's in-bounder as graduate student Hailey Atwood poked the ball free, authorizing the final buzzer to sound and cement an 81-80 UTSA victory. 

The Roadrunners (9-7, 3-2 The American) issued the 49ers (11-6, 4-1 The American) their first loss in league play, as Udo recorded the best game of her career, scoring 26 points at a 69% clip and collecting nine rebounds with three blocks. 

Meanwhile, fellow newcomer Aysia Proctor led the contest with 13 boards and used 17 points on five triples to secure her second double-double of the season. 

UTSA will remain in the Convocation Center for their next contest, as they host South Florida for Greek Night on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. 

🔼 Time to Chill Out. Due to cold weather in the forecast next week, the UTSA women’s tennis team moved its season opener against St. Mary’s (TX) to Thursday, Jan. 18, at 1 PM CST.

The Roadrunners will now open up the spring season with back-to-back home matches, hosting Abilene Christian just a day later on Jan. 19 at 12 PM CST.

🔼 Coaches in a Pickle. ICYMI! The third season of The UTSA Basketball Show, presented by UT Health San Antonio, premiered this past Monday on iHeartRadio’s Sports Radio, The Ticket 760 (KTKR-AM). It aired live from Chicken N Pickle on the east side of I-10 off UTSA Blvd (5215 UTSA Boulevard, San Antonio, TX 78249), the same site as previous seasons of the show.

Go here for the list of future dates, including tonight’s show from 7-8 PM CST.

Fans are invited to join both UTSA head men's basketball coach Steve Henson and UTSA head women's basketball coach Karen Aston as well as host Andy Everett for the one-hour radio show each Monday through the end of the season at Chicken N Pickle (except for Tuesday, Jan. 23, Tuesday, Feb. 20 and Wednesday, March 6.) The radio show will be held inside “The Roost,” next to the main bar in the dining room area. Various student-athletes from both the men's and women's teams will join their respective coaches and Everett across the 10-show schedule. 

🔼 Nominations for the 2024 UTSA Athletics Hall of Fame Class are now being accepted through March 31.

Don’t miss out on your chance to nominate a deserving former UTSA student-athlete, coach, or administrator for induction as part of the 2024 class by going here: http://goUTSA.com/HallOfFame.

Through 42 years of NCAA Division I competition, UTSA Athletics boasts 80 conference championships, over 60 NCAA team postseason appearances, and more than 50 All-Americans, among numerous other accolades and memorable moments. To celebrate its rich history, the department launched the UTSA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.

UTSA unveiled its inaugural Hall of Fame Class of McKenzie Adams (volleyball/women’s basketball), Devin Brown (men’s basketball), Marcus Davenport (football), and Tameka Roberts (track & field/women’s basketball), as well as former head football coach Larry Coker and former athletics director Lynn Hickey in August 2023. The class was officially inducted during Homecoming Weekend on Oct. 27, 2023.

🔼 The Arc of the Story. The UTSA men’s basketball team (7-10, 1-3 AAC) never got the offense on track against a challenging defensive opponent, dropping Saturday night’s AAC contest with Charlotte (9-7, 3-1 AAC) at the Convocation Center. The Roadrunner offense fell behind early on a sluggish start Saturday against the 49ers, as UTSA opened up the night 1-for-6 from the field while Charlotte was hovering around 50 percent shooting. A team that had dropped 40 three-pointers in the last three conference games, UTSA was struggling from beyond the arc, not finding paydirt from three until Christian Tucker drained the first long-ranger with 6:42 remaining before halftime.

UTSA will head back out on the road on Wednesday, Jan. 17, for an AAC matchup at Tulsa, then return home on the weekend to host No. 24 Florida Atlantic (Jan. 21) at the Convo.

🔼 Field of Dreams, Indeed. UTSA Athletics caught the attention of the San Antonio Express-News thanks to the upgrades to on-campus baseball and softball facilities prior to the 2024 season, adding new grandstands and press boxes at both fields.

The new softball grandstand will have 48 chairbacks alongside bleacher seating, and the new baseball grandstand behind home plate will be entirely chairbacks with 371 seats, a UTSA spokesperson said.

As writer Greg Luca notes, “Both facilities will have fiber lines installed to enable ESPN+ broadcasts as UTSA enters the American Athletic Conference.”

The projects are due to be completed before the start of the season, with no interruptions to practice or competition schedules.  

Go here for the 2024 schedule for Roadrunners baseball and here for softball.

📬 STICK WITH US

Did someone send you the Brew-1-0? Well, the first thing you should do is thank them. The next thing you should do is subscribe here and get it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning just in time for your first cup of coffee!

📅 COMING SOON

Monday 1/15

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

(No Activities Scheduled)

Tuesday 1/16

🏀 Women’s Basketball vs. South Florida @ 6:30 PM CST (Greek Night) on ESPN+ | Tickets | Watch | Listen

Wednesday 1/17

🏀 Men’s Basketball @ Tulsa @ 7:00 PM CST on ESPN+ | Watch 

Thursday 1/18

🎾 Women’s Tennis vs. St. Mary’s(TX) @ 1:00 PM CST

Friday 1/19

👟 Indoor Track & Field/Cross Country @ Lumberjack Team Challenge

👟 Indoor Track & Field/Cross Country @ Bellarmine Open

🎾 Women’s Tennis vs. ACU @ 12:00 PM CST

Saturday 1/20

(No Activities Scheduled)

Sunday 1/21

🎾 Men’s Tennis vs. UT Rio Grande Valley @ 12:00 PM CST

🏀 Women’s Basketball @ UAB @ 1:00 PM CST on ESPN+ | Tickets | Live Stats | Listen

🏀 Men’s Basketball vs. Florida Atlantic @ 2:00 PM CST (White Out) | Live Stats

View the full UTSA Athletics calendar here

🤙🏼 Have a great Monday, y’all!