Nov. 17, 2010
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery by Ivan Pierre Aguirre 
| Final Stats 
EL PASO, TEXAS- In a game in which featured nine ties and 15 lead changes, UTEP was edged out by New Mexico State, 80-75, in overtime in the SONIC® America's Drive-In® battle of I-10 at the Don Haskins Center Wednesday.
The Miners (1-1) led 67-58 with 2:23 to play in regulation but the Aggies (2-1) fought back. They closed the period on a 12-3 run, which was capped by a three-pointer from Erica Sanchez with 13 seconds left in the stanza. Briana Green had a chance to win it in the waning seconds, but her runner from the right wing was off the mark.
The two squads traded blows early on in the overtime period, and UTEP led by one (75-74) following a lay-up by Green with 2:29 left in the session. NM State climbed back ahead on a jumper from Camila Rosen to make it 76-75, and it managed to hold on down the stretch.
"I'm proud of our team and thought we played extremely hard," UTEP head coach Keitha Adams said. "We are very disappointed (with the outcome). It was a hard fought game. We are going to have to try to learn from this, grow from it and get better."
Gloria Brown paced the Miners with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Kelli Willingham (12 points, three assists), Briana Green (11 points, two assists) and Kayla Thornton (10 points, seven boards) also got in on the act. UTEP connected on 39.7 percent (27-68) from the floor, including 5-of-16 (31.3) from three-point land.
A trio of players led the attack for the visitors, with Jasmine Lowe and Madison Spence tallying 18 points each, while Tabytha Wampler pitched in 14 points and a game-high nine boards. NM State filled up 41.5 percent (27-65) of its shots, which including drilling 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) of its three-point tosses.
Turnovers were an issue for both squads, with the Miners (23) and Aggies (20) combining for 46 giveaways. UTEP's bench out-paced NM State's, 36-22, with Brown and Thornton combining for 30 of those points for the Orange and Blue.
UTEP bolted out to an 8-2 lead over the first two-and-a half minutes of the opening period, using good ball movement to generate open looks around the rim. NM State made some adjustments, and countered with an 8-0 run to take a 10-8 edge at 13:52. After some empty possessions by both squads, junior forward Erika Warren-who had four points and four boards off the bench- knotted the tilt on a driving lay-up. She sliced through traffic and banked home the shot to pull UTEP even (10-10) with 11:49 to play in the period.
The Miners then regained the lead (12-10, 9:21) after sophomore post Kristine Vitola made a baseline jumper. The Miners continued to play well, extending their advantage out to six (18-12) with 3:25 following a pair of tosses at the charity stripe by Brown. The Aggies regrouped, however, and put together a 9-2 spurt to pull ahead, 21-20, with 1:45 left in the period.
UTEP had an answer, though, in the form of six straight points. It lead by five as the clock ticked down in the stanza, only to have Spence beat the buzzer with a long triple to cut the deficit to two (26-24) at the break.
The momentum of the play carried over to the second half, with NM State accounting for six straight out of the lockerroom to regain the lead at 30-26 with 17:49 left. The Miners didn't rattle, though. Rather, they roared back with eight consecutive points, with Willingham drilling a long three pointer to conclude the sequence.
NM State recovered nicely, though, and it enjoyed a 41-40 lead with 12:20 to play in the period. The game was knotted at 42 after a free throw by Loew, when suddenly UTEP came alive to rattle off eight successive points. Thornton, the El Paso native, put the finishing touches on the run with a jumper to afford the homestanding squad a 50-42 lead with 8:48 to play.
The Miners kept the pressure on, and appeared to be in good shape with the aforementioned nine-point edge (67-58) with 2:38 left in the game. The Aggies had other ideas, though, as they managed to trim the UTEP lead to one (68-67) with 15 seconds remaining after a bucket from Wampler.
UTEP inbounded, and Willinghman was fouled almost immediately. The freshman stepped up to the line and calmly knocked down a pair of free throws to re-instate a three-point lead (70-67) with 13 seconds left, but the Aggies were able to force the extra session.
The Miners will look to bounce back when they play host to Eastern New Mexico at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday. The game is part of a doubleheader, with the UTEP men's basketball team facing Western Carolina at 8:30 p.m.
