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EL PASO, Texas- UTEP posted a wire-to-wire 64-61 victory against Southeastern Conference foe Arkansas in its opening game of the sixth-annual UTEP Thanksgiving Classic at the Don Haskins Center Friday afternoon.

The Miners (3-0) raced out to a 13-2 lead four minutes in, were up 18 (38-20) at half and 16 (52-36) through three quarters before withstanding a furious rally attempt by the Razorbacks (3-2). UA managed to whittle UTEP's advantage all the way down to one (62-61) but sophomore Faith Cook hit a fadeaway jumper to beat the shot clock with eight seconds left in the game to put the Miners back up by three.

The visitor's Devin Cosper then misfired on a triple at the other end to send the Miners to their first victory in program history against an SEC opponent. Overall it is UTEP's initial regular-season victory against a power-five conference foe since it crushed Kansas State, 84-39, on Nov. 16, 2013.

"The first three quarters was just good Miner basketball," UTEP head coach Kevin Baker said. "I thought we played about as well as we could offensively at times, made some really good decisions. They (Arkansas) is a 3-point shooting team, and we knew that. But we wanted to try, at least, was to make them rely on the three. I couldn't be more proud of our kids. We learned something today; we learned how to win a tough game. We learned how to take care of the ball late when we had turned the ball over and lost the momentum. I just thought our kids gritted their teeth and decided that we were going to win today. That's also thanks to our crowd. I thought our crowd was absolutely phenomenal. I'm proud of our fan's effort today. It was just a great day to be a Miner."

Senior Tamara Seda notched a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) to lead UTEP, but she was buoyed by 14 points and eight rebounds from junior Najala Howell and 10 points and six boards by sophomore Katarina Zec. Freshman point guard Jordan Jenkins did her part with a career-high seven assists while sophomore Zuzanna Puc pitched in eight points and four boards in 15 minutes off the bench in her 2017-18 debut.

UTEP connected on better than 50.0 percent (50.8 percent, 27-53) from the floor for the third straight game, something it hasn't done to start a season since at least 1981-82 (prior stats incomplete). The Miners also defended tirelessly, holding Arkansas to 30.0 percent (21-70) from the floor. The Razorbacks jacked up 41 3-point shots, but only made 11, for a readout of 26.8 percent.

The Orange and Blue took care of business on the boards, winning the rebounding battle to the tune of 51-27. Helping that figure was 40 defensive boards, the most against a division I opponent since also securing 40 against Tulane on March 8, 2013.

An area of concern for UTEP was turnovers (23) which led to 22 Arkansas points. But the Orange and Blue compensated for that by the dominance in other areas, in addition to holding a 38-18 advantage in points in the paint.

The Razorbacks were led by Devin Cosper (22 points), which was aided by her drilling 6-13 from distance. Malica Monk (10 points) also reached double figures in scoring but she had entered the game accounting for 21.3 points per game.

UTEP bolted out to a 13-2 lead over the first four minutes of the contest, prompting Arkansas to call timeout. Seda was the dominant factor, accounting for 10 of the points in the stretch. 

While the Miners cooled off offensively, they continued to harass the visitors at the other end of the court which allowed them to carry a 15-3 advantage into the second quarter.

The three points tied as the fewest points allowed in a quarter by the Orange and Blue in program history. Arkansas was 0-15 from the floor during the first 10 minutes, including 0-9 from distance.

The visitors came out firing to start the second frame, using a triple from Monk and an old-fashioned three-point play quickly whittle the UTEP lead to six (15-9). The margin was seven (22-15) midway through the stanza before Seda scored in the paint and Howell banged home a triple to fuel a mini 5-0 run. 

After the Razorbacks cut the Miners' advantage down to nine (29-20), UTEP struck back with a half-closing 9-0 run to surge into the locker room armed with an 18-point cushion (38-20). Howell scored the first five points of the sequence before Zec finished it off with a jumper and then a pair of free throws with 0.4 seconds left on the clock. 

The two teams traded baskets through most of the third quarter, and UTEP looked to be in good shape by holding a 16-point advantage (52-36) heading to the final frame. The margin remained 15 (59-44) with 5:21 to play in the game before Arkansas unleashed an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to get within four (59-55) with 2:57 left in regulation. UTEP made four turnovers in the stretch, and UA also drilled a trio of triples to fuel the run.

Howell reinstated order by draining a long 3-pointer of her own to put the Miners up by seven (62-55) but Arkansas responded by scoring the next six points in the game to get within one. But Cook and company had an answer, allowing UTEP to hold on for the exhilarating victory.

The Miners will have a very quick turnaround as they wrap up play at the Classic by squaring off against Texas Southern at 2:30 p.m. MST Saturday. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for kids, which will also grant individuals admission to the first match-up of the day (Arkansas vs. NM State) at 12 p.m.