When a program says goodbye to a talented group as UTRGV did last year, most would assume they would struggle in the aftermath to fill those roles on the floor left by key contributors.
Nearly one month into the 2017-2018 season, Head Coach Larry Tidwell has a reloaded UTRGV squad fresh off recording a 6-1 start, the best the program has had in 26 years.
“We’re always trying to do something to make this program get more respect across not only the state, but the southwest part of the country,” Tidwell said. “We play for every girl and coach who wore the green and white and the orange and gray now. We’re very pleased; 26 years since we had a 6-1 record, ’91-’92. We’re going to continue to try to keep on breaking records.”
While UTRGV lost its top-four scorers, top-three rebounders and top-three assist leaders from a year ago, this team is made up of eight returners and eight new faces who have found a rhythm playing together early on. Tidwell said this year’s deep team is loaded with players who understand their role and what they bring to the table.
“We’re balanced,” he said. “We don’t know who the star is going to be on this team because we’re so balanced, then we got kids that sometimes won’t take a shot when they need to take a shot. If we get better, if we shoot better, the defense has done an excellent job. We can be pretty good this year.”
Two of UTRGV’s players who have stepped into leadership roles on and off the court are graduate student and fifth-year center Laura Van Tilburg, a Weslaco High School product, and the baby of the team, Valeria Tapia, a freshman point guard from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, who played high school ball at Brownsville’s Saint Joseph Academy.
Tapia, who played for the U19 Mexican national team in the 2017 FIBA World Cup, found her way onto the court after injuries hit the point guard position, as she has started the last few games for UTRGV. With Spanish being her first language, she said it’s been a process adjusting to being a vocal leader on the court calling out plays, but is beginning to feel comfortable with the role.
“I think communication is the key to win games,” she said. “English is not my first language, so at the beginning, it was really hard for me to talk and Coach was like, ‘You need to talk, you’re not going to be on the court if you don’t talk.’ Right now, I’m getting used to talking with my teammates because I know that I have to talk to them because I’m the point guard.”
The lone freshman on the team recorded her first career double-double in a 78-62 win over Prairie View A&M University on Nov. 26 in the Fieldhouse as part of the Feast of Sharing Tournament. Tapia earned Most Valuable Player honors for her play in the tournament, prompting Tidwell to admit it would be hard for anybody to take that point guard spot from her.
She’s happy to receive the support of the coaching staff and teammates in just her freshman season.
“It’s amazing for me because I’m a freshman, so for him to believe in me that way is amazing because it’s hard, it’s hard to believe in a little freshman,” Tapia said. “It’s really good to know that all my teammates support me and all of them are so proud of me because I’m the baby on the team; so they all support me and I feel so happy for that.”
The “little freshman” plays with a pace other teams can’t maintain and possesses court vision that could make you question if she has eyes on the back of her head, fitting perfectly into the point guard role on Tidwell’s squad.
“When the door opens, kids get a chance and they take advantage of it; Valeria Tapia was a great example of that, she’s a player,” Tidwell said. “She got the chance to step it up. We got a junior who has a lot of experience, got hurt, had another junior college kid who was playing, got hurt, so she stepped it up. So, now it’s going to be hard to take that away from her. She sees the court well and handles traps well.”
A pass-first point guard who is crafty at penetrating the heart of defenses and finding open teammates is just what the UTRGV team needed, and many are reaping the benefits.
Van Tilburg, the Weslaco High School alumna, was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week for Nov. 20-26. During that week, she led the Vaqueras to three wins, including a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double against Texas Lutheran University on Nov. 21 and 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks against Prairie View A&M on Nov. 26. She was also named to the Feast of Sharing All-Tournament team.
Van Tilburg is averaging 11.6 points per game, 8.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks, leading UTRGV in each category.
UTRGV has gone on two separate three-game win streaks thus far. Junior college transfers Jameka Dowell, Quynne Huggins and Krisynthia Sampson have all earned major roles and are making instant impacts on both sides of the court, while Shaiann Tramble, who was an early season contributor, went down with a leg injury. Transfer students Alicia McCray and Marie-Fatou Gueye, a graduate student, have also carved out spots on the floor, which gives Tidwell confidence this year’s deep and balanced team can help hang another banner in the rafters of the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
“I want to win a WAC Championship. I want to go to another NCAA tournament. I’ve been in eight. I’ve been in seven other postseason tournaments,” Tidwell said. “We’ve hung three banners in the Fieldhouse and we’re planning on hanging a lot more before my tenure at UTRGV is over and I plan on being here quite a few more years.”
UTRGV is back in action Tuesday, as they travel to take on North Dakota State University at 7 p.m. and Wednesday, as they face Wisconsin University.
The Fieldhouse will also host the UTRGV Holiday Classic Dec. 19 and 20, with the University of Southern California, Middle Tennessee State University and Canisius College. UTRGV will square off against Canisius at 7 p.m. on the 19th and USC at 7 p.m. on the 20th.
