EL PASO, Texas – UTEP women's basketball (6-5, 3-3 C-USA) hits the road once again this weekend to take on Louisiana Tech (9-3, 4-2 C-USA) in Conference USA play on Jan. 22-23 at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston.
 
The Miners will open the weekend on Friday with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m. MT, while the series between UTEP and LA Tech concludes at 3 p.m. MT on Saturday.
 
UTEP is looking to build on a 62-52 win over North Texas last Saturday at home and notch its first C-USA road win of the campaign. UTEP's win at home last weekend was the first loss in C-USA play for North Texas. The Mean Green were previously 5-0 in league play prior to the Miners' victory.
 

---

GAME INFORMATION
Dates: Jan. 22-23, 2021
Venue: Thomas Assembly Center (Ruston, La.)
Tipoff: 5:30 p.m. MT (Friday); 3 p.m. MT (Saturday)
Video Stream: CUSA.TV ($)
Audio Stream: UTEP Miners App (Friday) | ESPN 600 El Paso (Saturday)
PxP: Tim Hagerty
Live Stats
 
 
BAKER'S BREAKDOWN
"They are having a great year and off to a really good start. They have very athletic, quick, fast guards. They have a great little inside-out threat. It's a very ball-screen offense they work. They are just a talented team. I think most people know if you follow LA Tech that they are 15 to 20 points better when they play on their home floor, so it's not going to be an easy weekend for the Miners, but we sure are looking forward to it. We've been practicing really well this week after coming off a big win on Saturday. We've got a lot of momentum, so we are looking forward to the challenge."
 
 
MINER NOTABLES

• UTEP enters the series looking for its first C-USA road win since Feb. 20, 2020 at UTSA.
• LA Tech leads the all-time series, 14-6, with the first meeting coming during the 2001-02 season. The Lady Techsters have won four straight contests, including an 87-80 win in Ruston last season.
• Katia Gallegos leads UTEP offensively with 16.5 points per game and an average of 4.8 assists, which is tied for first in Conference USA.
• Isis Lopes and Michelle Pruitt are scoring 9.0 and 8.2 points per game, respectively.
• Defensively, the Miners rank third in C-USA in steals (89) and turnovers forced (18.4) entering the weekend.
• Gallegos leads the team with 23 steals on the season, while Pruitt is averaging a team-best 5.5 rebounds per game.

 
 
SCOUTING THE LADY TECHSTERS
LA Tech enters this weekend's C-USA series with a three-game winning streak after sweeping a two-game road series against UTSA last weekend in San Antonio. Louisiana Tech is one of the top defensive teams in the league entering this weekend's series. LA Tech ranks No. 2 in scoring defense, No. 3 in FG pct. defense, No. 2 in turnover margin and No. 1 in turnovers forced per game. Junior guard Keiunna Walker is LA Tech's leading scorer entering the weekend with an average of 17.1 points per game. Brianna Harris (10.7) and Raizel Guinto (10.1) are also scoring in double digits on average.


LAST TIME OUT

---

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.