RIO GRANDE VALLEY – There's a noticeable excitement in the air relating to The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. 
 
UTRGV women's basketball head coach Lane Lord is heading into his eighth year on campus and hasn't felt a buzz quite like this. The palpable enthusiasm has Lord and his squad eagerly counting down the days until their first game of the 2025-26 season on Nov. 3, which translated to a great first official practice on Monday. 
 
"Everybody knows that this is official now, season is here. Naturally, the intensity level goes up and I think the energy in the building was at an all-time high. We had a lot of fun out there and we worked extremely hard, and we'll continue to do that each and every day," Lord said. "Our university and school spirit, and really the town spirit, is at an all-time high. The community is just going crazy and I think it's going to carry over into basketball season. The atmosphere is going to continue to grow for UTRGV Athletics." 
 
The Vaqueros have been trending in the right direction since the page turned to the upcoming season. After a solid first year in the Southland Conference that saw the team win its most conference games in a season in program history, enjoy its winningest season and best road season since Lord's first campaign in 2018-19, UTRGV had what Lord called the best summer of workouts in his tenure. 
 
That momentum carried into the four weeks of preseason workout sessions allowed by the NCAA. As the Vaqueros shift into high gear with the season officially underway, they're allowed 20 hours of work per week and 30 practice ahead of the home opener against St. Mary's. 
 
The summer and preseason workouts are more focused on strength & conditioning and cleaning up fundamentals. With the calendar turning to the fall routine, the Vaqueros will start on game prep, teaching schemes and watching film and being intentional about getting better on the court as a unit. It's not only a physical challenge – the student-athletes need to be mentally tough and studious and understanding of the philosophies behind the offensive and defensive tactics. 
 
"The summer's more about fundamentals and the fall is about installing all the offense and defense and really getting into the preparation for game time," Lord said. "It's a lot more film watching, more self-scouting, and all those things to get ready for the season. We can break ourselves down and see what we need to improve on. Our concentration and discipline has to be twice as high." 
 
Senior forward Charlotte O'Keefe and junior guard Madison Huhn are setting the tone as the team captains heading into this season. The Vaqueros have a good core returning, including sophomores Gianna Angiolet and Kayla Lorenz. They also have a stellar group of newcomers who have added depth and athleticism to the roster, particularly at the guard position with a pair of junior transfers in Jalayah Ingram and Erin Maguire bringing experience to the group. 
 
The team is ahead of schedule building camaraderie; now the focus turns to building chemistry on the court and finding the team's identity and strengths to carry them through the season. 
 
"We're faster than we've ever been, more athletic. We have great size in the post. The depth at the guard position is going to allow us to play faster. The quality of depth that we have on this roster is probably the biggest attribute that this team has over the teams in our last few years," Lord said. 

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