Jan. 30, 2011
Final Stats
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NEW ORLEANS, LA.- The UTEP women's basketball team was downed by Tulane, 69-63, inside historic Fogelman Arena Sunday afternoon. The Miners (12-8, 4-4 C-USA) were up by eight (36-28) at the break only to have the homestanding Green Wave (17-4, 6-2 C-USA) pick it up in the second stanza.
Tulane outdistanced UTEP, 41-27, during the final 20 minutes, including a game-changing 13-3 push late in the contest. The stretch turned what was a 57-52 Miners' lead into a 65-60 Green Wave advantage with 2:11 to play in regulation. UTEP continued to play hard but could get no closer than two (65-63) from that point on.
The Orange and Blue shot a crisp 46.7 from the floor (21-of-45), drilled 18-of-22 (81.8 percent) at the charity stripe while also winning the rebounding battle (32-26) but came up short due to an inability to take care of the basketball. UTEP gave Tulane much more help than it needed by committing 33 turnovers, which the home side converted into 34 points. It rates as the second-most turnovers by the Miners in a conference contest and the ninth-highest sum overall in program history.
Tulane struggled to the tune of 34.5 percent (10-of-29) in the opening period but it heated up in the second half with a readout of 62.5 (15-of-24). The Green Wave made just 1-of-13 from distance but compensated for that fact by going 18-of-25 (72.2 percent) at the free-throw line in addition to giving the Miners fits with their full-court press.
"We played hard," UTEP head coach Keitha Adams said. "We just had way too many turnovers. Turnovers just killed us today."
Dietra Caldwell (15 points), Erika Warren (12 points) and Gloria Brown (11 points) led UTEP's attack while Kayla Thornton pitched in eight points. Freshman guard Kelli Willingham contributed six points and six assists, which helped offset her five turnovers. No other Miner, though, had more helpers than giveaways. In a telling stat, all eight Miners who garnered double digits in playing time were harassed into three or more turnovers.
Danielle Nunn and Brittany Lindsey each tallied 20 points to pace the Green Wave's offense, with Tiffany Aidoo (nine points) and Brett Benzio (eight points) also getting involved. No other Tulane player had more than six points. Roshaundra Barnes was a factor defensively with a game-high five steals while Lindsey notched four and Aidoo contributed three.
The two teams traded blows over the first several minutes of the contest before a little push by UTEP afforded it a five-point edge (14-9) with 11:43 to play in the period. Tulane struck back, however, with a 9-4 run en route to climbing on top, 18-17, with 6:30 left in the first half.
UTEP regrouped to compile a 14-4 run, which included tallying 10 straight, to roar out to its largest lead of the game (33-22) with 2:09 to play. TU tightened things up and whittled it down to a six-point edge (34-28) with 18 seconds left in the half but Warren put the Miners up eight (36-28) with a pair of late free throws.
The Miners registered two turnovers in the opening 90 seconds of the second half, which Tulane churned into four points to sneak within a quartet (36-32) at 18:43. UTEP managed to get it going, even extending its lead back out to eight (42-34) at 16:11. The Green Wave blitzed back with eight consecutive points to forge the first tie of the tilt at 14:01.
Rather than fold up shop, the Miners maneuvered the surge with relative ease, and found themselves up by five (57-52) with only 6:02 to play. Tulane erased that edge in a matter of only 43 seconds, however, and never looked back. Three UTEP turnovers helped fuel the stretch.
The Miners will return to action when they play host to UAB at 1:05 p.m. MT on Feb. 6. All fans who wear a football jersey or appropriate football apparel will receive free admission to the game as part of the "Super Sunday" promotion related to Super Bowl XLV.
