Nov. 16, 2009
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Upcoming: Coming off a 89-70 victory over Texas Southern on Friday in the 2009-10 season opener, UTEP faces its second straight SWAC opponent when Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-2) comes to the Don Haskins Center on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. The Golden Lions lost at Colorado, 88-72, on Friday and at Denver, 75-56, on Sunday. All seats for Wednesday's game are $10. UTEP will also host Arkansas State on Saturday at 7:05.
Looking Back: Randy Culpepper scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half to lead five UTEP players in double figures as the Miners beat Texas Southern. Jeremy Williams added 18 points, Arnett Moultrie 17, Julyan Stone 14 and Christian Polk 12. Moultrie also had 11 rebounds, and Stone had eight assists and no turnovers in 32 minutes. The Miners built leads of 20 points three times in the first half, the last at 37-17 on a pair of free throws by Stone with 7:34 remaining. But the Tigers closed the gap to 50-39 at the break. The Tigers hung around for most of the second half, and trailed only 74-67 when David Burrell buried a jumper with 5:54 to play. But the Miners closed the game with a fury, scoring 15 of the final 18 points. UTEP shot 49.2 percent from the field, forced 19 turnovers and outrebounded the Tigers 40-35.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Upcoming: The Miners (0-1) will play two more games in the preseason WNIT this weekend in Little Rock, Ark. UTEP will take on Eastern Illinois at 4 p.m. MT on Friday, and either Northern Colorado or host Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday at a to-be-determined time (either 3:30 or 6 p.m.). Eastern Illinois lost at third-ranked Ohio State, 91-68, in first round action over the weekend.
Looking Back: UTEP dug itself an early hole and couldn't recover as it fell, 66-54, to Florida Gulf Coast in the first round of the Preseason WNIT on Friday in Fort Myers, Fla. The Miners were plagued by poor shooting (4-of-24) in the first half, falling behind 36-17. UTEP also committed 24 turnovers on the night -- 12 in each half. A major rally cut the deficit to six points (39-33) with 11:56 remaining, but that was as close as the Miners would get. Jareica Hughes paced the Miners with 12 points, the only UTEP player in double figure scoring. The Miners did crush Florida Gulf Coast on the boards, 43-30, as three players (Ashley Milian, Kristine Vitola, Timika Williams) snared at least seven rebounds each.
CROSS COUNTRY
Upcoming: For the first time in more than 20 years, the UTEP women's cross country team has earned a bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Indiana. All-American Nicodemus Ng'etich and freshman Elkana Rotich will join the women as automatic qualifiers from the men's team. The women travel to nationals on an at-large bid. The last time the women competed in the national meet was in 1987, where they finished fifth. The men's race will begin at 10:08 a.m. MT and will be followed by the women's race at approximately 10:58 a.m.
Looking Back: The UTEP women finished fourth and the men fifth at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championship on Saturday in Albuquerque. Freshman Risper Kimaiyo led the women once again with a fourth-place finish, clocking it at 20:46 in the 6K. Kathya Garcia was the second finisher for the Miners, posting a time of 21:24 for 15th, and Gladys Chumba was 29th with a time of 21:53. Nicodemus Ng'etich was the top runner for the men, finishing the 10K in 30:54 for 17th place. He was followed by Elkana Rotich in 18th with a time of 30:56. Robert Menjo's time of 31:15 was good for 29th place.
FOOTBALL
Upcoming: UTEP (3-7, 2-4 C-USA) plays its final road game of the 2009 season on Saturday at Rice (1-9, 1-5 C-USA). Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MT. The Miners are 1-4 on the road this season and have dropped their last four contests away from El Paso since winning at I-10 rival NM State, 38-12, on Sept. 19. The Owls lead the series 7-5. Rice holds a 4-2 advantage in games played in Houston.
Looking Back: Kyle Padron threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders with 4:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, giving SMU a 35-31 win over UTEP on Saturday in Dallas. Trailing by two touchdowns (21-7) midway through the second quarter, UTEP rallied to take leads of 24-21 and 31-28 in the second half. But Padron led the Mustangs on a five-play, 66-yard drive to regain the lead and UTEP's last-gasp attempt to win the game ended with a sack of Trevor Vittatoe on fourth down at the SMU 21-yard line in the final minute. The Miners wasted another sensational performance by Donald Buckram, who rushed 33 times for 241 yards and added five catches for 66 yards. He scored two of the team's four touchdowns. Padron completed 17-of-24 passes for 244 yards and Sanders made seven catches for 134 yards. Shawnbrey McNeal rushed 18 times for 169 yards for the Mustangs, who finished with 437 yards of offense - 190 fewer than the Miners, but enough for the win.
MEN'S GOLF
Upcoming: Fall season complete. The Miners return to action at the Arizona Invitational Feb. 1-2 in Tucson.
Looking Back: UTEP took 16th place at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate Oct. 26-27 in Las Cruces. The Miners had a 54-hole score of 876 with rounds of 289, 293 and 294. UNLV was champion of the 17-team field (829). UTEP's Tanner Taff and Devin Meirtschin each tied for 47th place with a five-over-par 218.
WOMEN'S GOLF
Upcoming: Fall season complete. UTEP opens its spring season at the Islander Invitational Feb. 28-March 2 in Corpus Christi.
Looking Back: The Miners claimed an 11th-place showing at the Lady Pirate Intercollegiate Oct. 19-20 in Greenville, N.C. The Miners posted rounds of 308, 301 and 301 for a total of 910 at the two-day tournament. Georgia State was champion of the 15-team field (879). UTEP's Rosana Gomez earned a spot on the All-Tournament team after shooting a five-over-par 218 (74-72-72) to tie for fourth place, seven strokes back of champion Tara McFadden of Elon University (211).
RIFLE
Upcoming: The Miners will host Nevada on Saturday.
Looking Back: UTEP fell to Nebraska, 4589-4563, at the UTEP Rifle Range on Saturday. Alix Moncada led the way for the Miners, notching 591 in air gun, while Morgan Glenn fired 581. They were followed by Andrea Palafox (576) and Hannah Muegge (565) for a final aggregate of 2313 to Nebraska's 2329. In smallbore, UTEP finished with a combined total of 2250, ten points fewer than the Cornhuskers' 2260. Moncada was the Miners' top shooter in the three-position gun, firing 570. Muegge followed with 565, and Glenn (562) and Palafox (553) rounded out the group.
SOCCER
Upcoming: Season complete. The Miners finished 13-6-1 overall and 7-4 in Conference USA play.
Looking Back: UTEP battled UAB to a 1-1 tie through 90 minutes of regulation and a pair of 10-minute OT sessions before ultimately being edged on penalty kicks, 3-0, in a Conference USA quarterfinal match in Dallas on Nov. 4. The Miners enjoyed a 1-0 lead at halftime thanks to Skye Schultz's goal (41:14), but UAB notched the equalizer early in the second stanza on a strike from Carolyn Polcari (49:07). Tiffany Turpin, Laura McCalla and Marie Yempuku all scored on penalty kicks to give the Blazers the win.
TENNIS
Upcoming: Fall season complete. The Miners' spring opener comes versus North Florida in Jacksonville on Jan. 29.
Looking Back: Veronika Makashov rolled to a perfect 4-0 singles mark to highlight play for the Miners at the Southwest Collegiate Invite Nov. 6-8 in Albuquerque. The tournament was the fourth of the fall for the Miners, who will now turn their attention towards preparation for the 2010 dual match season. Last year UTEP won a school-record tying 16 matches.
VOLLEYBALL
Upcoming: Season complete. UTEP finishes 11-18 and 4-12 in Conference USA action.
Looking Back: The Miners concluded the year with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 26-24) loss at Tulane on Saturday. El Paso's Catherine Chavez ended her career ranked second in school history in digs after posting five against the Green Wave -- giving her a career total of 1,229. Fellow El Pasoan Amy Sanders, also playing her final match for the Miners, led UTEP offensively with nine kills, while Jennifer Nolasco paced the defense with 12 digs.
