Jan. 18, 2009
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Behind a barrage of three pointers, a strong rebounding effort and several players stepping up to make all the crucial plays, the UTEP women's basketball team picked up an impressive 73-60 win at Tulane on national TV (ESPN2) in a hot and muggy Fogelman Arena Sunday afternoon. The Miners' third straight victory moves them to 10-7, 3-1 in Conference USA play, while the Green Wave fall to 10-7, 2-2, respectively.
Timika Williams (22 points), Briana Green (18 points) and Fannie Goodwin (13 points) led the way for the Miners, with Williams and Green combining to knock down eight of UTEP's 11 three pointers on the day. The 11 triples equal the third-highest total in program history, while it marks the second-best percentage (11-of-19 for 57.1 percent ) in games with double figure makes from beyond the arc.
Tulane led 27-20 with 5:30 to play in the opening period, but the Miners finished the period on a 9-2 run to pull even at the break (29-29). Williams contributed six of her 16-first half points in the sequence.
Tulane's Brittany Lindsey knocked down a free throw in the opening minute of the second stanza to re-instate a one-point lead (30-29), but the Miners would strike back with a decisive 15-7 run over the next six minutes en route to taking a seven-point lead (44-37). Green contributed all but two of the points in the stretch, and her squad would never trail from the point on.
That is not to say that the Green Wave would go down easily, as they trimmed the UTEP lead to four (47-43) with 11:04 to play. The Miners, as they did all game, had an answer. Goodwin reeled off five straight points in a span of a minute to vault the Orange and Blue ahead by nine (52-43).
Tulane countered with an 7-0 run in a blink of an eye to climb within two (52-50) with 8:12 to play. The Miners responded to the threat like champions, hammering out a 17-1 run over the next five-plus minutes and demoralizing TU in the process.
Jareica Hughes, who attempted only four shots while being held scoreless in the contest, used her passing prowess to power the sequence. Goodwin drilled a jumper from the corner after Hughes found her all alone. She then set up Williams in the lane, who made both free throws after Tulane fouled her to prevent the lay-up. On the ensuing possession, Williams caught a lob in traffic from Hughes and muscled it up in and in.
Back-to-back buckets from Dietra Caldwell, both off feeds from Hughes, afforded UTEP its initial double-digit lead (63-51) with 4:22 remaining. The Miners then capped the spurt with a jumper from Williams (another assist by Hughes) and Goodwin. When it was all said and done, the Miners led 67-51 with only 2:48 to play. The Green Wave whittled the margin down to 11 (67-56) over the next 50 seconds but could get no closer.
Not to be overshadowed in the outcome of the contest was UTEP winning the battle of the boards (47-35), with Williams (nine), Brittnay Jones (eight) and Caldwell and Goodwin (seven each) simply out-hustling and out-working the Green Wave.
UTEP's defense held Tulane to 39.3 from the floor, including just 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. The Miners finished at 42.2 for the day, which was aided by 16-of-32 in the second half.
The Miners return to action against Tulsa at 7:05 p.m. at the Don Haskins Center on Thursday.
