UTEP Miners

Notes Package In PDF Format

UTEP VIES FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WIN VS. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
UTEP will take aim at its second win in as many games when it plays host to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. MST Saturday. The Miners (1-0) rallied past CSU Bakersfield, 67-56, in their season opener on Nov. 11 while the Islanders (2-1) won their first two contests before falling last time out to UTRGV. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for kids. The tilt will be broadcast locally on 600 ESPN El Paso, KROD-AM Radio and there will also be a live stream on CUSAtv.com (subscription based). Fans are encouraged to wear white.
 
HOME FOR A WHILE
The tilt is the second of a season-opening six-game homestand, with Arkansas (2:30 p.m. Nov. 24), Texas Southern (2:30 p.m. Nov. 25), New Mexico (5:30 p.m. Nov. 30) and Houston Baptist (1 p.m. Dec. 2) also on the docket. It ties as the second longest homestand to start a season in program history. 
 
GAME FORMAT
For the third straight season, NCAA women's basketball games will be played in four 10-minute quarters. Teams reach the bonus and shoot two free throws on the fifth team foul in each quarter. In the four-quarter format, team fouls reset to zero at the start of each quarter. Teams have four timeouts (three 30s, one 60), three which carry over to the second half. They will be able to advance the ball to the frontcourt after a timeout with less than 59.9 seconds in 4Q. There are seven media timeouts (four under five minutes in quarter/first called), two intermission media timeouts (after first and third quarters) and the first team-called timeout during the second half. Bands or amplified music may play during any dead ball.
 
CONNECT ON SOCIAL MEDIA          
Fans are encouraged to connect with the Miners on Facebook (UTEP Women's Basketball), Instagram (@utepwbb) and Twitter (@UTEPWBB). They are also encouraged to use #WeAreMiners in posts.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES (UTEP LEADS, 2-1 OVERALL; UTEP LEADS 2-0 IN EL PASO)
UTEP leads the series, 2-1, with all of the meetings coming since 2001-02. The two programs last met in the 2007-08 campaign, which was a 67-52 UTEP victory at home on Nov. 15, 2007.
 
GETTING TO KNOW TEXAS A&M-CORPUS-CHRISTI
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi got out of the gates quickly, with two wins in as many days against Texas Lutheran (87-56, 11/10) and McMurray (62-43, 11/11). It fell short in its bid for a third straight victory in a 56-53 loss at UTRGV on Nov. 14. The Islanders have featured a balanced attack early on in the season with three players in double figures for scoring. Brittany Mbamalu (16.3 ppg) leads the charge, followed by Emma Young (12.7 ppg) and Dalesia Booth (11.3 ppg). Young tops the team in rebounding (8.3 rpg) while Booth paces it in steals (3.0 spg) and Dae Dae Evans leads it for assists (4.0). Overall six players have grabbed at least 4.0 boards per game, helping the Islanders produce a +8.3 (43.0-34.7) rebounding margin. Corpus Christi has top-100 NCAA team rankings in scoring defense (51.7-41st), scoring margin (+15.6-84th), steals per game (11.3-86th) and rebound margin (+8.3-93rd). It was picked to finished seventh (out of 13 team) in the Southland Conference preseason poll, on the heels of making a run to the SLC tournament finals. Notable university alumni include actress Cassandra Jean, who has appeared on shows such as CSI, and US Army Lieutenant General Larry Wyche.
 
LAST MEETING WITH T   EXAS A&M CORPUS-CHRISTI: (at UTEP 67, Texas A&M Corpus-Christi 52, Nov. 15, 2007)
Led by Timika Williams' 22-point, 12-rebound effort, UTEP team rolled to a convincing 67-52 triumph against a pesky Texas A&M-Corpus Christi squad at the Don Haskins Center on Nov. 15, 2007. The Miners used a 14-0 run halfway thru the second-half to break open the contest. UTEP improved to 1-1 on the campaign, while the Islanders drop to 0-3. It was an impressive victory, considering TXAMUCC had lost its first two games on the year by a combined seven points. It marked the fifth straight home-opening triumph for the Orange and Blue, which is the longest streak since the mid 1990's. Joining Williams in double figures were Kasia Krezel (13 points, seven boards) and Claudia Porras (11 points, two caroms), while Natasha Lacy effectively ran the point with a game-high five assists. The Miners, who were without the services of sensational sophomore Jareica Hughes, were effective offensively, connecting on 49.1 percent of their chances. At the other end of the court, the Orange and Blue turned up the intensity while resulted in a challenging night for the Islanders. TXAMU filled up only 36.4 of its shots, while it was forced into committing 19 turnovers. UTEP converted those giveaways into 25 points. The Miners, who had struggled in the rebounding department thus far in 2007, controlled the boards to the tune of 41-31. UTEP dominated the paint, racking up 40 points compared to just 10 for TXAMUCC.
 
GOING BACK IN TIME (at UTEP 67, CSU Bakersfield 56 (11/11/17)
UTEP used a huge fourth quarter to rally past CSU Bakersfield, 67-56, in the 2017-18 season opener for both squads at the Don Haskins Center on Nov. 11. The Roadrunners led by eight (45-37) through three quarters of action but the Miners opened up the final frame on an 13-1 run to help fuel a dominant 30-11 advantage over the last 10 minutes of action. Senior Tamara Seda (20 points), junior Jordan Alexander (15 points) and sophomore Faith Cook (14 points) each established career highs to lead the way for the Miners, who were victorious in head coach Kevin Baker's Division I coaching debut. Junior Najala Howell (10 points) also reached double digits in scoring for UTEP, which nailed 51.2 percent (21-41) from the floor and 42.9 percent (6-14) from beyond-the-arc. Alexander, who played her freshman year at DI Louisiana before transferring to Trinity Valley, grabbed a personal-best 10 boards for her first career double-double while Seda added eight caroms. UTEP won the rebounding battle, 36-30, which was aided by a whopping 16-2 advantage in the fourth quarter. The Miners held CSUB to 32.8 percent (20-61) from the floor.
 
BAKER WINS DEBUT
Kevin Baker became the first head coach to win their UTEP debut since Craig Roden did so in 1987-88 and just the third overall in program history to achieve feat. Carol Ammerman also achieved victorious in 1974-75, which was the first year of the program Baker is the eighth head coach at the school. Ammerman went on to peel off four straight victories to start her Miner career while Roden notched back-to-back triumphs.
 
START IT OFF STRONG
UTEP improved to 24-20 all time in season openers, including 21-7 when doing so in El Paso. Overall in home openers, the Miners now stand 28-14 (missing outcomes in some years).
 
SEDA ERUPTS FOR CAREER HIGH
Tamara Seda tallied a career-high 20 points while shooting 72.7 percent (8-11) from the floor and 80.0 percent (4-5) from the free-throw line in the win vs. CSUB on Nov. 11. She added eight rebounds and three assists. Seda played intelligent basketball, navigating through foul trouble to turn in the career performance.
 
COOK COMES ALIVE FROM 3-POINT LAND
After shooting 19.3 percent (11-57) from 3-point range as a freshman, Faith Cook nailed 60.0 percent (3-5) from beyond-the-arc in the season-opening win against CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 11. The three triples shattered her previous best of one (11 different games).
 
ALEXANDER SHINES IN MINER DEBUT
Junior Jordan Alexander made her UTEP debut one to remember by posting a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) to help the Miners down CSU Bakersfield in the 2017-18 lid lifter on Nov. 11. Alexander was aggressive around the rim, which resulted in her going 8-11 at the free-throw line. She also showed off a strong basketball IQ with a team-high tying and career-best four assists from her post position.
 
ZEC CONTRIBUTES ACROSS THE BOARD
Sophomore Katarina Zec showed off her all-around abilities in the season-opening win vs. CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 11. She recorded six points, grabbed a career-high six rebounds while also sharing for the team lead with four assists in a personal-best 39 minutes of action.
 
SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST
After scoring 37 points through three quarters of action, the Miners erupted for 30 points over the final 10 minutes to erase an eight-point deficit and rally past CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 11. The 30 points are the most scored in the fourth quarter by the Miners in program history and rank tied for fifth-most points in a quarter overall at the school.
 
MORE ON THAT FINAL FRAME
UTEP shot a sizzling 80 percent (8-10) from the floor in the fourth quarter while limiting CSUB to 18.8 percent (3-16). But perhaps the stat that jumps out above any other over the final 10 minutes is rebounding. UTEP had a whopping 16-2 advantage on the glass in the period, helping it turn a 28-20 deficit in the department through three quarters of action into a final 36-30 margin. UTEP also limited its turnovers to four after entering with 17.
 
STAUNCH DEFENSE TO START
UTEP yielded only five points in the opening quarter of action in the eventual win against CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 11. It set the program standard for fewest points allowed in the first quarter and tied as third for fewest points in a quarter overall.
 
SHARE THE ROCK
UTEP was unselfish in its campaign-opening victory against CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 11. The Miners piled up 17 assists on 21 field goals made. Jordan Alexander and Katarina Zec shared the team lead in helpers at four.
 
PLENTY OF PLAYING TIME TO GO AROUND
With Zuzanna Puc sidelined for an injury, UTEP had only nine active players on the bench in the season-opening win vs. CSU Bakersfield. Roeshonda Patterson did not play and Rachel Patterson logged a quartet of minutes, meaning the remaining playing time was distributed among just six players. Katarina Zec (39) and Najala Howell (38) played nearly the entire contest while Tamara Seda (31), Jordan Alexander (28) and Faith Cook (25) all earned at least 25 minutes on the court.
 
HIGH-PERCENTAGE POINTS
The Miners got plenty of high-percentage scoring against CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 11. UTEP accounted for 73 percent of its points (49-of-67) on either free throws (19) or from points in the paint (30).
 
IN THE NCAA RANKINGS
The Miners have top-100 NCAA team rankings for field-goal percentage (51.2-21st), 3-point field-goal percentage (42.9-34th), field-goal percentage defense (32.8-49th), scoring defense (56.0-71st), assists per game (17.0-76th) and 3-point field-goal percentage defense (25.9-97th). Jordan Alexander is eighth in defensive rebounds per game (10.0) and 50th for assist-to-turnover ratio (4.0), Tamara Seda is 47th in field-goal percentage (72.7) and Faith Cook is 82nd for 3-point field-goal percentage (60.0).
 
GETTING TO KNOW THE 2017-18 MINERS
UTEP returned eight letter winners (Faith Cook, Jakeira Ford, Najala Howell, Roeshonda Patterson, Zuzanna Puc, Tamara Seda, Rachel Tapps and Katarina Zec) from last year's squad (8-23, 5-11 Conference USA). Puc, Seda and Zec all started for UTEP in 2016-17. The Miners also added four newcomers (Jordan Alexander, Ariona Gill, Jordan Jenkins and Neidy Ocuane) but Gill and Ocuane are slated to take a redshirt year in 2017-18. The squad is under the direction of first-year head coach Kevin Baker, who is assisted by first-year assistants Nicole Dunson, Michael Madrid and Lori Morris.
 
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Head coach Kevin Baker inherited a young team, with 60% of the active roster (6-of-10) comprised of sophomores (Faith Cook, Jakeira Ford, Roeshonda Patterson, Zuzanna Puc, Rachel Tapps and Katarina Zec). The Miners have just three upperclassmen, in the form of one senior (Tamara Seda) to go along with returning junior Najala Howell and junior-college transfer Jordan Alexander. Freshman Jordan Jenkins rounded out the active roster. Two other newcomers (junior-college transfers Ariona Gill and Neidy Ocuane) are sitting out the 2017-18 season as redshirts.
 
NEW FACES
The Miners have four newcomers to the squad in 2017-18 though two of the additions (junior Ariona Gill, 5-11, G/F, San Jacinto College) and junior Neidy Ocuane (5-5, G, Seward County CC) are redshirting the 2017-18 season. Junior Jordan Alexander (5-11, F, Trinity Valley CC) and true freshman Jordan Jenkins (5-3, G, Buffalo HS) both started the season opener are expected to remain significant contributors throughout the year. Last year Alexander helped TVCC qualify for its 10th straight trip to the national tournament and finish with an overall record of 30-6. She put up 6.5 points per game while also grabbing 2.5 rebounds per game. Jenkins averaged 20 points, eight steals, seven assists and six rebounds to help her squad earn runner-up honors in Texas 2017 in the UIL 3A playoffs. Ocuane paced her team in assists per game (4.7) and steals per game (2.4) while ranking fourth in scoring (11.2). Her efforts helped it win the program's first conference title in eight years.
 
NOTING THE SCHEDULE
The return of the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic and a 16-game Conference USA slate, match-ups against both New Mexico and NM State and non-conference contests against power league members Arkansas, East Carolina and Georgetown highlight the 2017-18 UTEP women's basketball schedule. There are also games against three teams that played in the 2017 NCAA Tournament (NM State, Texas Southern and WKU) and four from the 2017 Postseason WNIT (Georgetown, LA Tech, Middle Tennessee and Southern Miss)
 
THE BAKER FILE
Kevin Baker was appointed as the eighth head coach in UTEP women's basketball history on Monday, April 24, 2017. He has a unique background which has seen him rise through the coaching ranks from high school level, to NCAA Division III, then NCAA Division II and now his NCAA Division I position at UTEP. Throughout his ascent, though, he has consistently found a way to win. He is 345-131 overall in his 16th year as a head coach, including 123-30 in his sixth season as a college head coach. He has set school records for wins at every stop of his career, and has taken every school to the playoffs with a total of five district championships. He is an eight-time Coach of the Year. In his stops most recently prior to UTEP, Baker's teams captured back-to-back conference championships at UT-Tyler and Angelo State. Baker has led both a Division II (Angelo State) and Division III (UT-Tyler) school to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
 
HISTORY Of FIRST-YEAR COACHES AT UTEP
In terms of success rate in the first season on the sidelines, Carol Ammerman (11-5, 1974-75) and Janet Wood (11-16, 1979-80) share the platform for most victories by a Miner head coach in their initial campaign. Ammerman's effort came in the first year of the program, and is also the lone winning record by a first-year Miner head coach in school history. Overall the prior seven head coaches at UTEP are a combined 54-120 (8-17 average record). Needless to say, Kevin Baker is hoping to buck that trend in 2017-18.
 
EXPERIENCED STAFF
While head coach Kevin Baker and his three assistants (Nicole Dunson, Michael Madrid and Lori Morris) are in their first year at UTEP, they brought plenty of coaching experience to the Sun City. The quartet entered the 2017-18 season with a combined 93 years of coaching experience (Morris-37 years, Baker-23 years, Madrid-22 years and Dunson-11 years).
 
BASIC FACTS ON THE PROGRAM
UTEP is 548-648 in its 44th season as a women's basketball program, including 1-0 in 2017-18.  The Miners have made four postseason bids (2016,-WNIT quarterfinals; 2014-WNIT runner-up, 2012-NCAA first round and 2008-NCAA second round), sporting a combined record of 9-4 (8-2 WNIT, 1-2 NCAA). UTEP has claimed four league championships (2016 C-USA regular season, 2012 C-USA regular season and conference tournament and 2008 C-USA regular season). It has a 1-1 record all time in league tournament title games, winning the title in 2012 and falling in 2008. There have been six 20+ win seasons (all since 2006-07), including four of the past six years. UTEP has cracked the top-25 poll in two seasons (2015-16, 2007-08), including being ranked in the final six weeks in '07-08, while receiving votes in eight campaigns total ('15-16, '13-14, '12-13, '11-12, '08-09, '07-08 and '06-07). The Miners have been mentioned in the AP Preseason Poll four times, including garnering three points in 2016-17. In 2008 UTEP became the first C-USA women's team to finish undefeated in league play (16-0) while claiming the program's initial league title in 2008. The Miners finished 15-1 in C-USA in 2012 in addition to also winning the program's first conference tournament championship. UTEP owns the C-USA single-season record for winning streak at 23, which was set in 2007-08. The University of Texas at El Paso (founded in 1914) recently enjoyed its centennial celebration. Notable alumni include former ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Sam Donaldson,  well-respected NFL referee Ed Hochuli, former NASA astronaut Danny Olivas engineer & Dennis Poon, who designed Taipei 101 & some of the tallest buildings in the world.
 
THIRD-BEST IN TEXAS SINCE 2006-07
The Miners have the third-highest winning percentage among all DI programs in Texas since '06-07. Baylor (352-51, 87.3%), and Texas A&M (285-98, 74.5%) lead the way followed by UTEP (230-120, 65.7%).  Texas (235-133, 63.9%-4th), Lamar (211-134, 61.0%-5th), Stephen F. Austin (203-140, 59.2%-6th), TCU (201-151, 57.1%-7th), SMU (187-157, 54.4%-8th), Prairie View A&M (190-162, 54.0%-9th) and Texas Tech (178-174, 50.6%-10th) round out the top 10.
 
SPECIAL RUN
The Miners are 130-66 since the start of the 2011-12 season, with 78 double-digit victories in that time frame. UTEP has played postseason basketball in three of the past six seasons, making two deep runs in the WNIT (2014 runner-up, 2016 quarterfinals) and earning the C-USA automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Tournament (lost, first round). It is has enjoyed 14 separate winning streaks of at least three games during that time frame.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
UTEP has an all-time home record of 352-214, including standing 1-0 this year. The Miners have amassed a record of 154-40 at home since 2006-07, including 87-23 since 2011-12. Aiding that 87-23 record over the past six years was a school-record 19-1 home mark in 2015-16. The match-up against Texas A&M Corpus-Christi is the second of 16 regular-season tilts at the Don Haskins Center in 2017-18. UTEP has been particularly strong in non-conference play, sporting a record of 76-11 at home in the situation since 2006-07.
 
ALL ABOUT THE FANS
The Miners received tremendous support to help propel them to a pair of deep runs in the WNIT (2014 runner-up honors, 2016 quarterfinals) in the past four years. UTEP averaged 7,773 fans per game during the 10 WNIT contests (8-2 record) in El Paso. Aiding those numbers were back-to-back sellouts , the first in program history, in the semifinals and finals of the 2014 WNIT. The Miners have ranked in the top-50 nationally for attendance in three of the past six years. UTEP placed 28th in 2013-14 (3,793 avg.), 42nd in 2012-13 (2,708 avg.) and 46th in 2011-12 (2,639 avg.). The Miners are 28-10 when playing in front of 4,000+ fans since 2001-02. They are 25-3 in the situation at the Don Haskins Center and 3-7 when doing so on the road.
 
TRAVEL TIME
UTEP is 139-355 all time on the road, including a record of 1-9 during the 2016-17 season. When playing at a neutral site the Miners stand 57-78, including five losses to power-five programs last season. Since the start of the 2006-07 season UTEP is 57-62 on the road, including 33-31 since 2011-12.
 
CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS
Redshirt-senior Tamara Seda ranks sixth at UTEP in blocked shots (70), tied 10th in double-doubles (11) and 26th in rebounds (428).
 
2016-17 IN REVIEW
UTEP went through a rebuilding year in 2016-17, finishing with a record of 8-23, including 5-13 in Conference USA play, before bowing out in the first round of the 2017 C-USA Championships. The youth-laden Miners lost all five starters from the 2015-16 season and returned only four letter winners from that squad, giving them a new look for the year. UTEP played its most challenging non-conference schedule in program history with a single-season school-record five games against teams from power five conferences. It went 0-5 in those contests while finishing 3-4 vs. non power league programs in non-conference play. Overall UTEP was saddled with a 2-9 start to the year before going 3-3 over the next six games. The Miners then lost a season-long six straight and eight of the next nine before posting back-to-back victories. UTEP dropped its final two games of the regular season and was upended by sixth-seeded Old Dominion in the first round of the C-USA Championships, 80-70.
 
CLIFFNOTES ON THE 2017-18 SEASON
RECAPPING THE EXHIBITION SEASON
For the first time since the 2007-08 season, the Miners played a pair of exhibition games to prepare for the regular season. UTEP split the contests, drilling NCAA Division III member Sul Ross State, 99-40, on Oct. 29, while falling to NCAA Division II member St. Mary's (Texas), 68-62, on Nov. 4. Katarina Zec (17.5 points per game) was the top point producer for the Miners but four others (Tamara Seda-16.5 ppg, Najala Howell-15.0 ppg, Jordan Alexander-11.0 ppg and Jakeira Ford-11.0 ppg) also averaged double figures in scoring. As a team UTEP shot 45.5 percent (56-123) from the floor while holding its foes to 30.9 percent (38-123). The Miners excelled at the free-throw line (35-42, 83.3 percent) and also dominated the rebounding department (51.0 rebounds per game to 27.5 opponent rebounds per game). 
 
A recap of each of the contests is below.
 
St. Mary's (Texas) 68, at UTEP 62 (11/4/17)
Five different Miners reached double figures in scoring but visiting NCAA Division II St. Mary's (Texas) used a barrage of three pointers to down UTEP, 68-62, in an exhibition contest at the Don Haskins Center on Nov. 4. The Miners were clicking on all cylinders early with a 22-point first quarter, which helped propel them to a 35-27 advantage at the half. The visiting Rattlers came out firing after the break, eventually pulling ahead by 12 (61-49) with 7:36 to play in the game. UTEP scored the game's next 10 points to help fuel a 13-1 run to even the tilt at 62 with 2:25 remaining. But St. Mary's, which finished 21-7 a year ago, received back-to-back triples from Sierra Dixon to decide the game. The long-distance hits were part of 14 on the day for St. Mary's, including five alone in the final frame. Jordan Alexander (14 points) led a quintet of Miners in double figures offensively, with Katarina Zec (12 points), Najala Howell (12 points), Tamara Seda (10 points) and Jakeira Ford (10 points) joining her. Seda pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double, which also helped UTEP win the boards, 46-33. UTEP shot it reasonably well at 40.7 percent (24-59), but it struggled from beyond-the-arc at 26.7 percent (4-15). While the Miners held St. Mary's to 35.4 percent shooting (23-65), they allowed the Rattlers to drill 14-of-31 (45.2 percent) from downtown.
 
at UTEP 99, Sul Ross State 40 (10/29/17)
UTEP raced out to a 52-17 halftime lead and never looked back on the way to a 99-40 exhibition win against Division III Sul Ross State at the Don Haskins Center on Oct. 29. Senior Tamara Seda dominated with a monstrous double-double (23 points, 15 rebounds) while sophomore Katarina Zec (23 points, nine boards) and junior Najala Howell (18 points, seven rebounds) also had big days. Seda also added four blocks and four steals. The Miners shot 50.0 percent (32-64) from the floor, including 45.5 percent (10-22) from distance, while also nailing 86.2 percent (25-29) at the charity stripe. It was a different story for the visiting Lady Lobos, who were harassed into 22 turnovers and held to 25.9 percent (15-58) from the floor. UTEP also took care of business on the boards, outrebounding Sul Ross State, 56-22. Seda led the way with a game-high 15 boards while Jordan Alexander pulled down 11 caroms. Alexander added eight points in her Miner debut. An area of concern for UTEP was turnovers with 19, but 14 of those came in the first half.