EL PASO, TEXAS – UTEP women's basketball (1-0, 0-0 C-USA) returns to the Don Haskins Center on Saturday to play host to Incarnate Word (0-1, 0-0 Southland) following an overtime come-from-behind victory in the season-opener on Wednesday.
This marks the second ever matchup between the two programs with the first coming in a 77-56 victory for the Miners on Jan. 25 of the 1989-1990 season.
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Don Haskins Center
Tipoff Time: 1 p.m. MT
Stream: C-USA.TV
Radio: ESPN 600 El Paso
Radio Talent: Tim Hagerty
"Incarnate Word is a very disciplined and well coached team," said UTEP
Head Coach Kevin Baker. "They are young, but they are a team on the rise in the Southland Conference. I think it will be a very competitive game and I think our team will play well because we will have to."
The game will be broadcasted live on ESPN 600 El Paso behind the voice of Tim Hagerty and streamed by C-USA.TV.
The Cardinals are coming off an 11
th-place finish in the Southland Conference with a 14-15 record (10-10 Southland). Incarnate Word was tasked with replacing four of its starters and eight letterwinners a season ago including leading scorer and First-Team All-Conference selection Imani Robinson (14.3 ppg); its roster now features 11 new players.
The only returning starter for the Cardinals is senior Kara Speer who averaged a team-high 33.4 minutes per game. Speer finished fifth in the Southland in rebounds with 7.1 points per game and was a threat from beyond-the-arc leading Incarnate Word in 3-pointers.
LAST TIME OUT (UTEP)
Point guard
Katia Gallegos opened her sophomore campaign with a bang against I-10 rival New Mexico State, knotting the score at 68-68 with a layup with 3.7 second left in regulation. Gallegos went on to score two more game-clinching points at the charity stripe to give her a new career-high 25 points. Senior forward Dejanae Roebuck helped seal the game scoring six of her career-high 15 points including a 3-pointer in the extra five-minute period.
Freshman forward
Brenda Fontana played a key role coming off the bench. The Argentinian racked up all six of her first points in a Miner uniform in the second half.
UTEP was able to fight its way to the line for 37 free throw attempts compared to New Mexico State's 10.
LAST TIME OUT (ICW)
The Cardinals are coming off an 84-59 loss to TCU in which they were outscored 46-24 in the second half. The Horned Frogs had two 20-plus-point scorers and capitalized off 29 Incarnate Word turnovers for 33 points.
WHO'S BACK AT UTEP?
The Miners have two of 2019-20's backcourt starters returning to the lineup in sophomore guards
Katia Gallegos and
Avery Crouse. Also returning to El Paso are seniors
Tia Bradshaw, Dejanae Roebuck and
Michelle Pruitt, juniors
Ariana Taylor and
Sabine Lipe, and sophomores
Arina Khlopkova and
Tatyana Modawar.
NEW FACES IN THE SUN CITY
Joining Baker and the returners in the Sun City are three freshmen from abroad,
Dagne Apsite (Latvia),
Elina Arike (Finland) and
Brenda Fontana (Argentina) as well as two junior transfers in
Destiny Thurman (Collin County Community College) and
Isis Lopes (Clemson). The Miners now have six players originating outside of the United States (Lopes from Australia, Khlopkova from Russia).
ABOUT COACH BAKER
UTEP Women's Basketball
Head Coach Kevin Baker enters his 18
th season as a collegiate head coach and fourth at the helm of the UTEP program. Baker is following up a 16-14 (8-10 C-USA) campaign in 2019-20 which improved the Miners by seven wins from the previous season.
ABOUT KATIA GALLEGOS & AVERY CROUSE
Gallegos was selected to the All-Conference Preseason team earlier in November, making her the first Miner to receive the accolade since Jenzel Nash and
Sparkle Taylor in 2016-17. The El Paso native from Franklin High School was also tabbed the Nancy Lieberman award watchlist which recognizes the top point guard in the nation. Gallegos returns for UTEP this season after leading the team in assists (154), assists per game (5.1), steals (52) and steals per game (1.7) as a freshman. Gallegos also led Conference USA in assists (154) in her rookie campaign, averaging 5.1 per contest, while she was third on the team in scoring with 9.6 points per game.
The other half of the Miners' sophomore guard tandem is fellow Texan
Avery Crouse from Sachse, Texas. Crouse started alongside Gallegos in 29 games and cracked the top-10 UTEP freshman season rankings for 3-point percentage (33.3-sixth), field-goal percentage (42.2-seventh), 3-pointers made (23-tied ninth) and points (241). Crouse went on a tear in the Miners' final six games of the regular season, scoring in double-figures five times and 21 points twice for an average of 14.5 points per game.
For complete coverage of UTEP women's basketball, be sure to follow the Miners on social media at @UTEPWBB (Twitter), @utepwbb (Instagram) and on Facebook or visit the official home of UTEP Athletics at UTEPMiners.com.
