Jan. 20, 2011
Final Stats |
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EL PASO, TEXAS- Six different Miners reached double digits in scoring as the UTEP women's basketball team dismantled Rice, 79-57, inside the Don Haskins Center Thursday evening.
The Miners (11-6, 3-2 Conference USA) out-scored the Owls (10-9, 2-3 C-USA), 48-27 in the second half, including a game-deciding 15-1 run midway through the period. The sequence turned what was a precarious 48-46 UTEP edge with 11:16 to play into a comfortable advantage of 63-47 in only a matter of five minutes.
Rice finally halted the surge, but the damage had been done. It got no closer than 13 the rest of the way out. The Miners closed out the contest on an 8-0 push for good measure.
Junior Erika Warren tallied a career-high 14 points to lead the way but she had plenty of support. Junior Gloria Brown, freshman Kayla Thornton and Anete Steinberga all registered 12 points while junior Dietra Caldwell and freshman Kelli Willingham each pitched in 10.
The Miners were a crisp 53.3 percent (32-60) from the floor, including a sizzling 69.2 percent (18-26) in the second half. UTEP's bench exploded for 46 points, which is the most points by the back-ups since a 55-point outing against Western New Mexico on Dec. 1, 2009. Warren, Brown and Thornton led the charge in that department, while Baiba Eglite (season-high eight points) also got in on the act.
"We had six players in double figures," UTEP head coach Keitha Adams said. "We also scored more than 70 points. We have had a pretty good percentage in winning games when we do that."
UTEP now stands a stout 68-5 over its past 73 games, including 9-1 in 2010-11, in which it has eclipsed 70 points.
Jessica Kuster paced Rice with 19 points-on 9-of-18 shooting, while also grabbing nine rebounds. Morgan Mayse drilled 5-of-11 from the floor en route to joining her in double figures for scoring with 12, but no one else could really get anything going for the Owls. The rest of the team combined to score just 26 points on a paltry 7-of-31 from the field.
Another factor in the tilt was rebounding, which went the way of UTEP by a count of 40-34. The Miners improve to 9-2 on the year when winning the battle of the boards. Brown grabbed nine while Willingham and Thornton each registered seven.
Things didn't look good early on, with the Miners misfiring on their first eight shots. Rice would capitalize by building a 7-0 edge over the first four minutes of the game. UTEP began to put things together, though, resulting in a 7-2 run to get back within two (9-7) with 14:28 to play in the opening period.
A small push by the Owls put them up by six (13-7) at 13:58 but the Miners clawed back to tie the contest with three consecutive baskets in the paint. Kuster broke the deadlock with a jumper but once again UTEP had an answer. This time it came in the form of a 9-0 run to afford the home side its first advantage of the contest.
The Miners continued to play hard and eventually extended their lead out to 12 (31-19) with 3:22 on the clock. Rice showed good resolve, however, and cut the deficit to one at the break (31-30) by closing out the period on an 11-0 run.
The two teams traded buckets over the opening minutes of the second half, and the Owls actually were up by one (42-41) with 14:39 to play. The Miners regained the lead, for good as it would turn out, with five successive points. RU was still hanging around, though, but the Orange and Blue ripped control of the contest with the aforementioned 15-1 run.
UTEP will take to the road to challenge SMU at 1 p.m. MT on Sunday. The game will be carried by KHRO 1150 AM in El Paso.
