Allison Feaster, the mother of UConn sophomore standout Sarah Strong, was on the end of Women’s NCAA Tournament history that her daughter certainly does not want to see happen again.

Playing for Harvard on March 14, 1998, Feaster scored 35 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the No. 16 Crimson to a shocking 71-67 win over No. 1 Stanford in the first round of the tournament.

Behind Feaster – an All-American who led the nation in scoring that season – Harvard was the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 in either men’s or women’s tournament history and did it on the Cardinal’s home court.

It took 20 years for history to repeat itself when UMBC upset No. 1 Virginia 74-54 in the 2018 tournament in the first No. 16 win in men's tournament history. No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson knocked out No. 1 Purdue five years later to become the second men's team to achieve the improbable.

Harvard remains the only No. 16 team to pull off the mammoth upset in the women’s tournament, and UConn hopes it stays that way.

The Huskies (34-0) are the No. 1 overall seed in the 2026 edition of March Madness and sit atop the Fort Worth Region 1 bracket. They will meet No. 16 UTSA (18-15) on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., in first-round action.

The winner will advance to the second round on Monday, also in Storrs, against the winner of the game pitting No. 8 Iowa State (22-9) against No. 9 Syracuse (23-8).

UConn defeated Syracuse to win one of its 12 national titles in 2016. The defending champion Huskies will try for the program’s 13th over the next three weeks.

But first, of course, they must get past UTSA first. Here’s a look at the Roadrunners.

These are things to know about UTSA women’s basketball before the game, which will be televised by ABC.

Location: San Antonio, Texas
Team name: Roadrunners
Coach: Karen Aston (Fifth season at UTSA, 82-77; overall record 367-223 in 18 seasons at Charlotte, North Texas, Texas and UTSA)
School tournament record: 0-2 in two appearances (2008, 2009)
Most recent tournament appearance: No. 15 seed in 2009. Lost to No. 2 Baylor, 87-82 in overtime.
2025-26 record: 18-15 (9-9 American conference)
Last 10 games: 6-4
Scoring offense: 60.0 points per game
Scoring defense: 57.8
Scoring leaders: F Cheyenne Rowe, 14.0, Sr.; G Ereauna Hardaway, 11.3, Sr.; F Idara Udo, 9.4, Jr.
Rebounding leaders: Rowe, 8.8; Udo, 7.5; G Mia Hammonds, 5.0, Soph.
Assists leaders: Hardaway, 4.7; G Adriana Robles, 2.1, Fr.; G Damara Allen, 1.8, Soph.
3-point leaders: Hardaway, 42.4%; Allen, 32.2%; G Jayda Holiman, 28.7%, Jr.

UTSA, the No. 6 seed in the American conference, won four games in four days to capture their conference tournament and earn automatic qualification to the NCAA Tournament. The Roadrunners defeated top-seeded Rice, 54–40, with Cheyenne Rowe and Ereauna Hardaway each scoring 13 points.

That’s the way it’s been all season for the Roadrunners, with Hardaway topping the team in scoring 13 times and Rowe 10 times during the regular season and tournament combined.

Rowe, the leading scorer and rebounder for UTSA, was named second-team all-conference and to the American’s all-defensive team. The 6-foot-2 forward spent her freshman season at James Madison before transferring to UTSA and has averaged 7.6 points and 5.0 points over 93 games (33 starts) in three seasons with the Roadrunners.

Hardaway is the only UTSA player to shoot better than 40% from 3-point range (39 of 92, 42.4%). Damara Allen shot 32.2% (39 of 121) and Jayda Holiman converted 28.7% (29 of 101).

UConn forces 24.53 turnovers per game – the most among power-conference teams – and averages a nation’s best 15.6 steals per game. That spells trouble for UTSA, which averages 18.2 turnovers per game – 299th in the nation.

If the Roadrunners can’t hang onto the ball, UConn will score early and often. The Huskies average 33.6 points per game off of turnovers.

And the rest of the UConn stats should be daunting for UTSA, which played four power-conference teams this season – Texas Tech, Houston, Auburn and Baylor – and lost by an average of 16.5 points per game.

UConn averages 88.8 points (second behind LSU) and leads the nation in scoring defense (50.4), offensive 3-point percentage (39.61), offensive field goal percentage (52.53), defensive field goal percentage (33.33) and scoring margin (38.4).

The Huskies won six games by at least 50 points.

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