Jose Rodriguez/THE RIDER
The UTRGV Women’s Basketball Team is soon set to start off its season playing against St. Mary’s University at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 3 in the Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus.
Senior forward Charlotte O’Keefe said the team is looking forward to being able to go out and play new teams.
“We have been here since June, so [we] are getting antsy and ready to go and play some new people,” O’Keefe said.
The team has welcomed eight new players this season, five of them freshmen.
Head coach Lane Lord said the six returners have done a great job at integrating the newcomers onto the team.
“We had eight weeks of summer that we got to practice and now we are going for an eight-hour week for the next two weeks, then we get to go our full 20-hour weeks,” Lord said in an interview Thursday. “Our chemistry is getting really good right now … we have some great leadership from the upperclassmen and we have some really talented new players and eligible players.”
Sophomore guard Gianna Angiolet said it is exciting to have new faces on the team.
“They fit in super well and they have great personalities on and off the court,” Angiolet said. “They bring a lot of energy so it’s great to have them.”
The Vaqueros are set to compete against teams such as Texas State University, the University of Houston and Texas Christian University before their conference season starts.
After its first conference game against Lamar University, the team is set to take on the University of Texas at Austin, a 2024-2025 Final Four team, on Dec. 10 at the Bert Ogden Arena in Edinburg.
“We’re very excited about them coming to the Valley, which is very hard to do since they’re a Final Four school,” Lord said. “I think we have a chance to show the Valley our talent and play with the top five teams in the country.”
He said he believes the school spirit is at an all-time high after the beginning of UTRGV Football and believes in big crowds for the basketball season.
“I think football has really brought our campus together,” Lane said. “We’re expecting huge crowds this year for the Houston game at home here in our arena and, then, of course, the Texas game at home and then our conference games.”
Angiolet said playing the schools mentioned would be a great challenge for the team.
“We have nothing to lose going into those games,” she said. “We just want to get better.”
Last season, the team went 16-16 and 11-9, with a total of 1,945 points made through the season.
Angiolet said the goal is to win the Southland Conference.
“The goal is to win as many games as we can, win the Southland [Conference] and get to the post season,” she said. “I think we are more than capable, but we just got to get by little by little, day by day.”
