Ruben R. Ramirez

UTEP WBB Returns to Action at Texas State on Monday Night

12/11/2021 12:09:00 PM

Game Notes (at Texas State)

EL PASO – The UTEP women's basketball team (5-1), after not playing in its last two scheduled contests, will return to the floor and play at Texas State (5-3) on Monday night (Dec. 13). The Miners and Bobcats will tip at 6 p.m. at the University Events Center in San Marcos.

Fans can listen on Mando Medina call the action on the UTEP Miners App. The contest will also be streamed on ESPN+.

Texas State is coming off an 63-59 loss a Lamar on Friday night. The Bobcats rank in the top 10 in assists per game (19.1) and are only giving up just over 55 points per game.

"[Texas State] is a good team. They're athletic, they do some good things and it will be a tough challenge for us on the road," UTEP Head Coach Kevin Baker said. "We need to approach this like any other game. We have to come out and play well, but they're off to a great start. We'll have our hands full."

The Miners haven't played since Nov. 27 after missing the last two contests due to COVID-19 protocols.

"We need to get back to playing games," Baker added. "It's a good thing because we have four [games] in the next eight days. We have everybody available and ready to go."

UTEP TO THIS POINT
UTEP fell in its last contest, 81-55, against Kansas on Nov. 27 at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout. Destiny Thurman scored 18 points on a career-high shooting 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Prior, the Miners defeated Seattle U., 62-57, on Nov. 26. UTEP started 5-0 out of the gates, its best start since the 2015-16 season. The Miners are averaging 72.5 points per game and yields 62.8 points per contest. UTEP is shooting 43.4 percent, while opponents are hitting 46.8 percent of their shots. Thurman leads the team in points (15.3 ppg), while Gallegos ranks second (11.3 ppg). Gallegos leads the team with 25 assists, while Elina Arike leads in rebounding (8.8 rpg). The Miners were scheduled to play at NM State on Dec. 1, but was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols.

SERIES HISTORY
UTEP has edged out Texas State, 8-7, in the all-time series. The Miners have won the last six meetings. UTEP defeated TSU 73-60 in the last meeting on Nov. 30. 2013 in the Haskins Center. The Miners are making their first trip back to San Marcos since the 1986-87 season, when then-Southwest Texas State won 100-77 on Feb. 7.

ABOUT TEXAS STATE
The Bobcats dropped to 5-3 after their 63-59 setback at Lamar on Dec. 10. Texas State opened the season with a 77-70 loss at no. 7 Baylor on Nov. 9. TSU bounced back to beat Huston Tillotson 82-48 and won at UTSA 76-62. After an 83-57 loss at Texas Tech, the Bobcats won three in a row – dismantling Arlington Baptist 93-23 and Texas College 105-37, and beating Houston Baptist 58-54. Senior 6-1 forward Da'Nasia Hood leads the team in scoring (14.0 ppg), rebounding (6.9 rpg) and steals (19). Senior 5-3 guard Kennedy Taylor and redshirt 6-1 junior Lauryn Thompson each average 9.6 points per game, which ranks second on the team. Thompson has also pulled down 4.9 boards per contest, while Taylor, who's tallied over 400 assists in her career, leads the team with 49. Taylor's 6.1 dimes per game ranks 14^th in the nation. Overall, TSU is shooting 45.3 percent from the floor (ranked 39^th nationally), while yielding 36.0 percent to opponents. The Bobcats are averaging 75.0 points per game and is giving up only 55.9 points per contest (ranked 57^th nationally). TSU also ranks 13^th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.34). Texas State's 19.1 assists per game ranks 10^th in the nation.

DISHING DIMES
Katia Gallegos has dished out 25 assists this season (4.2 apg). The El Paso product ranks seventh on the school's all-time list with 304 assists. Lulu McKinney (2014-17) ranks sixth with 308, Shalana Taylor (2004-07) ranks fifth with 313, andAna Valtierra (2002-07) ranks fourth with 324. Jareica Hughes (2006-10) leads the list with 599. Gallegos ranks tied fourth in Conference USA in assists per game (4.2).

STEALING THE SHOW
Katia Gallegos leads UTEP with 2.2 steals per game, while she also ranks 10^th in Conference USA. Gallegos has 13 steals this season, including a season-high four against North Dakota on Nov. 13. For her career, Gallegos has tallied 107 steals in her three years at UTEP. She needs 34 steals to crack the program's top-10 list. Jareica Hughes (2006-10) leads the list with 277.

CLEANING GLASS
Brenda Fontana worked the boards against Seattle U, grabbing a career-high 10 of them. She surpassed her previous high of six rebounds against NM State on Nov. 25, 2020. Fontana averages 3.8 rebounds per game coming off the bench.

FIRING AWAY
Destiny Thurman sank a career-high five 3-pointers on six attempts against Kansas. Her previous was three made 3-pointers, done four times. Thurman is shooting 40.0 percent (14-35) from downtown, while her 14-made treys rank tied fourth in Conference USA.

DESTINY'S RANKINGS
Destiny Thurman ranks eighth in Conference USA in scoring (15.3 ppg). Thurman ranks seventh in C-USA in field goal percentage (44.6).

BOUNCING BACK
UTEP has won its past four games when coming off a loss under head coach Kevin Baker. The Miners will have an opportunity to march that recent record to 5-0 when playing host to Utah State at 1 p.m. MT Saturday.

IT'S BEEN A MINUTE
Due to Covid-19 altering things last year, the Miners will be playing their first home game in December since the 2020-21 season. UTEP has three such games on tap this year. It faces Utah State on Saturday (Dec. 4), hosts Air Force on Dec. 21 and opens Conference USA play against UAB on Dec. 30.

TIME FOR A CHANGE
UTEP has a good opportunity to write a new script and change the narrative for how things have been going in the month of December lately. Since the start of the 2018-19 campaign the Miners are 3-11 in the final month of the year, with more than half (six) coming by single digits.

BOMBS AWAY
The Miners have hit at least nine treys in two different games this year, including a season-high 11 against North Dakota on Sept. 13. UTEP hit nine triples in two different times total during the 24-game 2020-21 season. Overall the Orange and Blue are making 6.3 triples per game. Destiny Thurman is the most explosive with 2.3 triples per game to check in fourth in the league and 99th nationally.

FILL IT UP
UTEP is connecting at a rate of 43.4 percent from the floor, which places third in the league and 84th nationally. Helping that figure has been a pair of games where the Miners made at least 50 percent from the field.

WIN THOSE BOARDS
UTEP has controlled the glass to the tune of a +7.8 rebounding margin this season (35.8-28.0), including winning the boards against a bigger Big 12 foe in Kansas last time out. The Miners are fourth in C-USA and just outside the top 50 (53rd) in the national rankings for the category. Elina Arike is pulling down a team-best 8.8 rebounds per game.

PUTTING UP THOSE POINTS
UTEP is accounting for 72.5 points per game, helped by a pair of 80+ point efforts. Those scoring outbursts occurred in the first two games of the season, something that hadn't happened in two decades. The scoring average is third in C-USA and 82nd nationally. Individually Destiny Thurman sets the tone with 15.3 points per game (eighth C-USA), but she's got plenty of help. Katia Gallegos (11.3 ppg) and Avery Crouse (10.0 ppg) are both in double figures on average while Teal Battle (9.7 ppg), Elina Arike (8.0) and Eliana Cabral (7.3) also get after it.

BETTER WATCH OUT
UTEP opponents should be on high alert in 2021-22, with the Miners forcing 21.2 turnovers per game to rate fourth in C-USA and within the top-50 nationally (45th). The Orange and Blue have come up with 9.0 steals per game, meaning the rest of turnovers are direct result of pressure leading to violations, passes out of bounds and traveling calls.

WINNING WAYS
The Orange and Blue's winning percentage of 83.3 is best in Conference USA and 45th in the country. UTEP's only setback has come at the hands of Big 12 foe Kansas, a game in which the Miners were without the services of two starters and two key reserves.

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