SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word women's basketball team defeated the UTSA Roadrunners, 56-53, on Thursday night at the McDermott Center. Nina De Leon Negron scored 17 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter to lift the Cardinals to victory.
 
"This was a huge win for our program," said Head Coach Jeff Dow. "Anytime you beat your in-city rival it's big, and for several of our players, it was their second win over UTSA in three years.  And it's exciting to do it with five freshmen playing, and a sixth newcomer in Nina."
 
The first quarter was a tightly contested battle with five ties and five lead changes. There were eight total turnovers between the two teams and the quarter ended with UTSA up, 10-6.
 
The second was more of the same, both teams battled back and forth with multiple lead changes in the game. The Cardinals were able to stay in the game knocking down nine of their 12 free throws in the quarter and went into the break trailing, 24-19.
 
"We challenged our players to be more physical in the second half on the boards. They had 12 offensive rebounds and nine second-chance points in the first half.  In the second half, they only had four and three."
 
Coming out of the break, UTSA caught on fire offensively shooting 72 percent from the field in their highest-scoring quarter of the game with 16, but UIW didn't back down as the Cardinals saw points from Myra Bell and Jorja Elliott in the third quarter.
 
"I thought we showed a lot of resilience throughout the game, but especially when we fell behind by 11 in the middle of the third quarter.  This is their most talented team in several years.  We knew it was going to be a tough match-up with the three Power Five transfers in their starting line-up (Jordyn Jenkins and Kyra White from USC, Elyssa Coleman from the University of Texas).  Defensively, our players did a great job in executing the game plan in holding them to 53 points with zero made 3-pointers.  Our assistant, Beverly Holmes, a San Antonio native herself, did a great job putting together the scouting report and preparing our players."
 
Heading into the fourth, the Cardinals trailed 40-32. De Leon Negron went on to score 10 straight points for UIW and then found Chloe Storer cutting to the basket for a layup to give the Cardinals a 45-44 lead. The teams would go back and forth once again until De Leon Negron got a big steal and scored to push UIW's lead to two possessions with 2:57 left. Down the stretch the Cardinals only missed two shots from the field and sealed the game, winning 56-53.
 
"Obviously Nina played a phenomenal game on her way to a career-high 25 points.  She made some unbelievably tough shots throughout the game but especially in the fourth quarter. And she was able to play the entire 40 minutes in what was a very physical game."
 
The team will be back on Sunday to take on Sul Ross State University at 2 p.m. in the McDermott Center.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics, visit uiwcardinals.com, follow the Cardinals on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook.
 
Follow the team on Twitter @UIWWBB and on Instagram @uiw_womenshoops