Women’s basketball dunks into first practice

UTRGV’s Women Basketball Team makes their return to practice for the upcoming 2026-27 season starting with their first game against Arlington Baptist University 5 p.m. on Nov. 2 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.

The season also follows the high of their 25-26 season, which was the winningest season in the program history with a record score of 21-14 and 16 Southland Conference wins.

“I think, with seven returners, that were all part of that historic season. We felt like we had some experience to run it back” said head coach Lane Lord.

Lord said he feels the years of experience from his older players gives them an advantage.

“You can’t teach experience, like Erin Maguire she’s played over 100 games in college. … So, we just have some older girls,” he said. “I think it’ll really help us in conference play because we should be one of the oldest teams with the most experience.”

Fifth-year guard Erin Maguire transferred to UTRGV in the 25-26 season for her senior year seeking a more competitive environment.

During her first year in the university she averaged a total of 8.2 points and 3.2 assists, becoming a central fixture to the team.

Maguire’s efforts and hard work are also large factors to UTRGV being able to accomplish their winningest season, according to Lord.

During the summer off-season, Maguire competed in her home country, Ireland’s International Basketball Federation Association FIBA 3×3 tournament.

“A big difference is the speed of the game,” Maguire said. “3v3 is really, really fast. It’s a really high-tempo game, and I really feel like when it comes to that, you need to have a lot of  really high-level 1v1 skills. You need to be able to shoot the ball really well because you’re outside, which makes it a lot harder. So, I have tried to develop that as much as I could in the summer, and I’m gonna try to bring those skills into 5v5 this year.”

Upon her return from Ireland to the RGV, Lord said he also praised her developments because she had the biggest “jump in confidence” he’s seen in his 8-year tenure.

This being Maguire’s fifth and final year playing college basketball, she said she has a lot of pressure off herself and wants to enjoy this last season.

“It’s my last year of playing college basketball, you know, I wanted to go in and just really enjoy every last second of it,” she said.
”So, I figured I need to take all the pressure off myself, enjoy playing basketball, and just trust myself.”

On the front court, sophomore center Elise Horne, was highlighted for a stand-out performance during the 25-26 season for scoring a season-high 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.

Her performance helped beat the reigning Southland Conference Champion, Stephen F. Austin State University, in a 87-85 victory.

She said this year she is working toward making that season-high a regular occurrence.

“I’m trying to repeat, but instead of just being one game, you see, I’m trying to get at least multiple games where I’m like, you know, giving at least eight, 10 points, you know, 10 boards as well, and not just offense or defensive points, but, you know, assist, stills, sharing the ball with my teammates. I’m trying to do more than just one game this year,” said Horne.

In a news conference on July 29, Lord spoke highly of Horne’s athleticism and physicality, noting that she is “strong as an ox and her footwork is exceptional,” and her size and strength make her hard to get around both offensively and defensively.

However, in preparation for the upcoming season, Horne said she has been expanding her offensive package, particularly her shooting.

“A lot of times, when I do have the open shot, I pass it out mainly because I’m not completely sure with my shot.” she said.
”So, I think I focused a lot more during the summer on shooting, taking the open shot the first time instead of passing it out.”

Horne comes from a very sports central family, practically being raised into athletics. In high school, she was a three-time 7A State Champion at Dr. Phillips High School in Florida, being able to use that championship experience to anchor the team’s culture during tough stretches of the season.

“I mean, I like to win, so I just, I go into every game, like, you need to win this, no matter how big, like, the school is or how small it is, you know, you need to play every game, like, our last one,” she said.

As the new season is around the corner, it also brings new faces to the team who are learning to integrate with the older players who have years of experience and dozens of games under their belt.

The team spent a lot of the off-season time at South Padre island just getting to know each other and forming bonds.

“It goes two ways,” Lord said. “Our returners just did a wonderful job welcoming in the new players, but on the flip side, our new players really embraced our returners, so it’s been fun to watch the growth they’ve had together and the bond that they formed, and there’s no cliques on this team.”

To stay up to date on women’s basketball updates or purchase tickets for future games, you can go to UTRGV Athletics or the GoUTRGV app.