SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team rang in the 2022-23 season with a 63-56 win over Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) on Monday night at the McDermott Center.

"It was great night for our program," head coach Jeff Dow said. "It was a tremendous honor for our returning players, alums and coaching staff to receive our Southland Conference championship and NCAA Tournament rings to commemorate last season's accomplishments."
 
Balanced scoring from the Cardinals behind Destiny Terrell (16), Aliyah Collins (15), and Yuliyana Valcheva (12) helped UIW to victory. Valcheva finished with 12 rebounds for her first double-double as a Cardinal.

"We got a big lift off the bench from Yuliyana Valcheva and Aliyah Collins in their UIW debuts. And I thought Destiny Terrell had a really good all-around game and made a lot of energy plays," Dow said. "The game itself was a little uneven but all things considered, not surprising. There were stretches where we had three freshmen on the court and even five newcomers.  We have several players out with injuries so realistically we know it's going to take us a little time to gel."
 
The Cardinals started off the game hot, leaking out to a 12-5 advantage as they held OLLU to just nine points in the first quarter (16-9).

"We placed a lot of emphasis on coming out with a dominant performance on the boards and winning the free throw battle, and we did that," Dow stated. "Needless to say we didn't expect to go 0-15 from the 3-point line, so that obviously hindered our ability to pull away and get some separation."
 
OLLU cut the lead to three points with just under two minutes to go in the first half after going on a 9-0 run. Valcheva finished a layup to end the half up, 30-25.
 
UIW's defense was crucial in the third, holding the Saints to 11 points through the quarter as the offense was ignited. Chloe Storer started off the quarter with a hard attack left followed by a pull-up from the short corner. Nina De Leon Negron broke out for a layup, forcing an OLLU timeout. Terrell finished a tough layup through contact and Collins sank two free throws to end the third, 63-56.
 
In the fourth, the Cardinals continued to hold off the Saints as UIW won the game, 63-56.

"It was a tremendous effort on the part of the OLLU players and head coach, Tanya Ray in getting them prepared. This was their third game in four days but you would have never known it with the energy that they played with for 40 minutes."
 
UP NEXT
The Cardinals head to Baylor on Thursday, Nov. 10 for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
 
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