Ruben R. Ramirez

UTEP WBB Hosts Incarnate Word to Open the 2021-22 Season Thursday Night

11/9/2021 1:18:00 PM

EL PASO – The UTEP women's basketball team will open the 2021-22 campaign against Incarnate Word on Thursday. The Miners and Cardinals are set to tip off at 7 p.m. in the Haskins Center.

The contest will be aired on "The Home of UTEP Basketball" 600 ESPN El Paso with Mando Medina calling the action. Fans can also watch the stream on CUSA.tv, or listen on the UTEP Miners App.

Tickets start at $8 while groups of 10 can purchase tickets for $5 a piece. Fans can buy single-game tickets and season tickets (starting as low as $65) for the new campaign at the Eisenberg Family Ticket Office by calling (915) 747-UTEP, visiting www.UTEPMiners.com/tickets, emailing tickets@utep.edu, or in person at 500 W. University Ave., 79968-0579 (Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

"We are very excited to tip off our season on Thursday. We know that we have a talented squad and we have a chance to do big things in the next four months," fifth-year UTEP Head Coach Kevin Baker said. "We will play a very talented Incarnate Word team that challenged us to a very close game last season. Coach [Jeff] Dow has improved his roster and we know that this will be a tough challenge. We hope to see a great crowd on Thursday because this will be a fun four-game home stand in the Haskins Center."

The Miners defeated UIW, 67-63, last season in El Paso. Katia Gallegos led with 17 points and six assists, while Avery Crouse chipped in with 10 points and led with nine boards.

The Cardinals finished 6-9 last season. Sophomore guard Jaacuklyn Moore returns for UIW, after leading the team in scoring at 11.8 points per game in 2020-21. Moore also paced the squad with 41 assists. Starr Omozee, the team's second leading scorer and leading rebounder from a season ago, also makes her return to the floor after averaging 8.8 points and 5.9 boards per game.

Miner fans caught a glimpse of the new squad in Sunday's exhibition, as UTEP ran away from St. Mary's (TX), 83-45.

The Miners controlled the tempo of the game, never trailing the Rattlers. UTEP led by as many as 39 points, while its bench outscored St. Mary's bench 39-16. The Miners took a 45-30 into the locker room, but outscored the Rattlers 38-15 in the second half, including 22-7 in the fourth quarter. UTEP forced 27 turnovers and outscored St. Mary's 23-3 on points off turnovers. Crouse led the way with 17 points on 3-of-5 shooting from downtown.

Last season, the Miners finished 17-8, including 13-5 in Conference USA action, to earn the no. 2 seed in the C-USA West Division. The Miners advanced to the C-USA semifinals for the first time in five years. Additionally, the 13 victories in league play were the most since 2016.

UTEP heads into the new season with four returning starters and six letterwinners overall back in the fold.

Gallegos, a sophomore point guard, leads the charge as the El Paso product was named All-C-USA first team. Gallegos was the first Miners since 2008 (Jareica Hughes) to be a first-time All-League honoree. She led UTEP and was among one of the C-USA leaders in assists per game (5.0-third), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.62-sixth) and total steals (42-sixth). Gallegos, starting in all 25 games, averaged a team-best 13.8 points per game.

Crouse , a sophomore guard, started all 25 games, averaging 7.9 points per game, 4.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals. Elina Arike played in all 25 games, starting in 24. The freshman forward ranked second on the team in blocked shots (six) and third in offensive rebounds per game (1.1). Junior guard Destiny Thurman played in 22 games, starting in 15. Thurman ranked second on the squad in steals (26) and 3-point attempts (82), and third on the team in scoring (9.1 ppg). Brenda Fontana played in 20 games (1.3 ppg, 1.1 rpg) and Dagne Apsite appeared in 10 games off the bench.

The newcomers include true freshman guard Grace Alvarez (Heights HS [Houston]), graduate student forward Teal Battle (Arkansas-Little Rock), sophomore guard Eliana Cabral (New Mexico Junior College), sophomore guard Mahri Petree (Bradley), freshman forward Adhel Tac (TCU), junior G/F Masha Vasilevko (University of San Francisco) and sophomore guard Erin Wilson (Jacksonville University).

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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.

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