RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) head women's basketball coach Lane Lord had the highest praise for his 2025-26 team as they wrapped up eight weeks of summer workouts at the end of July. 
 
"This was probably our best summer that we've had in my seven years. The biggest thing was we all stayed healthy," Lord said with a chuckle. "And No. 2, it was a perfect mix of returners that did such a great job with our newcomers. Our new players came in wanting to be here and they had the right attitude. The work ethic piece, we already know it's there because we saw it all summer and that's all you can ask for." 
 
Lord and his staff changed the way they used the eight allowable hours per week to work with the student-athletes. In past years, the Vaqueros divvied up their hours between the court and strength & conditioning across three days of practice. This summer, with eight newcomers on the roster, the coaching staff decided to train Monday through Thursday. The Vaqueros split their time evenly, putting in four hours of work on the court and four in weight room and in conditioning sessions. 
 
The team arrived early, kicking off the summer on June 10 while the student-athletes completed Summer I courses. For the second year in a row, the Vaqueros were also challenged to make 1,000 shots per week outside of practice. Every Sunday, a new chart would be hung in the locker room, and the players update the number of shots they make daily with the goal of sinking 8,000 shots through their eight weeks of training. 
 
"Since we had so many newcomers, we felt we needed the weight room four days a week. Then we did one hour on the basketball court four days a week. We mixed that time up with individual drills and team practices. One week we'll go three team practices, one position group day. The next day we'll do two team practices, two smaller group work. The seventh week we did pretty much all team and the eighth week was individual, skill workouts," Lord explained. 
 
"The most important part of the summer, obviously we want to get faster and stronger, but really it's about camaraderie," he continued. "Having eight new players, it was very important for us to get here early in the summer, which we did, and really get to know each other. The returners did a great job welcoming in the new faces. The newcomers fit right in." 
 
Leading the charge to get the team gelling were newly named captains Charlotte O'Keefe and Madison Huhn. O'Keefe is the team's lone senior and heading into her fourth season at UTRGV. Huhn is a junior going into her second season with the Vaqueros whose high basketball IQ has impressed since her first day on campus. 
 
Lord praised O'Keefe and Huhn for going the extra mile as leaders this summer. They showed initiative to get the team together early and often outside of the gym. The duo put in good work throughout the summer and look poised to take the next step and be key contributors for the squad.