UTEP Athletics

Miners to Face Road Test at Kansas City on Sunday

11/12/2022 7:30:00 AM

UTEP GAME NOTES

EL PASO, Texas – UTEP heads away from home for the first time this season to play Kansas City on Sunday at noon MT/1 p.m. CT.

For the Miners (1-0), the trip will provide a tough early season road test, as the Roos (2-0) are coming off a 23-win season a year ago that culminated in a trip to the 2022 WNIT.

GAME COVERAGE
Live video of the game on Sunday will be offered on KCRoos.com through the Summit League Digital Network. Live stats can be followed on the Kansas City SIDEARM Stats Portal.

SCOUTING KANSAS CITY
Following a 23-9 campaign last season, the Roos are embarking on the first season under new head coach Dionna Jackson-Durrett, who most recently served as the associate head coach at Texas. Jackson-Durrett was a first-round draft pick of the Detroit Shock of the WNBA in 2005 and would go on to play five years professionally in the states and overseas. The Roos have to replace the five leading scorers from that successful team of a year ago. Those five combined to score 61.2 of the 71.6 points per game scored by the team. Entering the new season, the program was picked sixth in the Summit League Preseason Poll. After taking home Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year accolades during her last full season in 2020-21, RaVon Nero was chosen Second Team Preseason All-League. Nero averaged 10.9 points per game during that year. Six new faces join the squad this season, including two transfers and four freshmen. Utah State transfer E'Lease Stafford highlights that group after averaging 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game a year ago for the Aggies. Kansas City is starting the season with a stretch of four straight home games. In the most recent of those, an 82-70 win over Tennessee State, Dani Winslow set a school record with 24 rebounds. Sanaa' St. Andre paced the scoring with 22 points.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. KANSAS CITY
Formally known as UMKC, Kansas City has played UTEP three times in program history, holding a 2-1 edge. The Miners won the most recent meeting 69-54 in a 1995 neutral site game in Irvine, Calif. The Roos won the only meeting on their home floor by a 68-43 tally in January of 1990.

MAHRI MONDAY MAGIC
After finishing last season strong, guard Mahri Petree posted an impressive initial performance for the 2022-23 campaign with a career-high 24 points to pair with five rebounds and three assists on Monday against New Orleans. Petree did her work in just 23 minutes, connecting on 6-of-11 shots from the floor and converting on all 11 of her free throw opportunities, also marking a career best. Three of Petree's five double-digit scoring outputs last season came over the final three weeks of the year, including a season-high 23 in a big home win over Southern Miss. Over the stretch, she increased her points per game total by nearly two points per contest.

CABRAL CAREER NIGHT
Starting her fourth game as a Miner, Eliana Cabral provided a scoring punch with a career-high 15 points in the season-opening win. Cabral also contributed five rebounds and three steals as part of a standout effort for the native of Montijo, Portugal.

SUCCESS IN OPENERS CONTINUES
With the win on Monday over New Orleans, UTEP improved to 6-0 in season openers under Kevin Baker. Overall, the Miners are 29-20 in season openers, including 25-7 when the games are played in El Paso. The program has been especially impressive over the last 14 years, going 13-1 in home openers.

BAKER NEARS 200 WINS
Kevin Baker has 196 wins between his time at UT Tyler, Angelo State and UTEP. With the Miners, Baker has compiled 74 wins over the course of his first six seasons on the sideline.

FORCING TURNOVERS
An aggressive UTEP defensive effort forced 33 New Orleans turnovers on Monday night, tied for the ninth-most forced in a game by the Miners in program history. UTEP was opportunistic in transition, racking up 42 points off turnovers.

UNDEFEATED WHEN HITTING 80
UTEP has never lost when scoring 80 or more points in a game under Kevin Baker. Since his first season in 2017-18, the Miners are 24-0 when eclipsing 80 points. The program has not lost a game when tallying 80 since Jan. 12, 2017, a stretch of 26 games.

LEADING AT THE HALF
Last season, the Miners went 11-2 when taking the lead into the break and are 1-0 this season after jumping out to a 37-25 advantage over New Orleans on Monday night.

JACKSON SWIPES SIX
Newcomer Jazion Jackson made a major impact in her first game as a Miner, setting a career high with six steals. In addition to the defensive performance, the North Texas transfer tied a career high with eight assists while filling in for N'Yah Boyd at the point guard position.

TRIO MAKES MINER DEBUTS
Transfers Jazion Jackson and Thaniya Marks along with freshman Soleil Montrose each made their initial regular season appearances in UTEP colors on Monday. Jackson and Montrose each earned spots in the starting lineup, while Marks was a perfect 2-of-2 from the floor off the bench.

ARIKE IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Forward Elina Arike put up 12 points in the season opener, marking her 15th career game scoring in double figures. She also contributed five rebounds and two steals in the win.

GRACE FINDING HER GROOVE
Sophomore Grace Alvarez played in 23 games as a true freshman, gaining experience that looks to serve her well this season. Alvarez hit two 3-pointers off the bench against New Orleans while equaling a career high with six points.

SABINE RETURNS WITH A BANG
After a one-year hiatus from donning the Miner colors, Northern Colorado transfer Sabine Lipe has returned, quickly reminding UTEP fans of what they were missing with 10 points and two steals in 16 minutes of action off the bench against New Orleans.

DEFENSE LEADS TO WINS
UTEP is 36-13 when limiting the opposition to 60 points or less under Kevin Baker.

LOOKING TO GET TO THE STRIPE
Last season, UTEP made 430 free throws, ranking second in the conference and 41st in the country. Expect the Miners to once again get to the line plenty, with multiple driving options throughout the roster who will be aggressive in getting to the basket.

UTEP IN ROAD OPENERS
Over the past three seasons, UTEP is 3-0 in true road openers, knocking off Texas State (2021), NM State (2020) and NM State (2019).

BAKER ON THE SEASON OPENER
"We wanted to get some exotic looks and things we haven't seen before, and they certainly gave us that. They gave us several looks that we hadn't seen. I love that. I love competition and I think our team was craving some competition. They were craving a good, quality game, and they sure got it. Early on New Orleans was playing very well, hitting some tough shots, but I loved the way we were defending. We were making them hit some weird shots. We have improved in our depth. We are a little deeper than we have been in the past, and that's saying a lot because we have been deep in the past. We are eons ahead of where I thought we would be, but we have a long way to go and we've got to get N'Yah back healthy too. That'll really help our team."

BROADCAST INFORMATION ANNOUNCED
The broadcast information for 25 of the 29 games this season has been released. Currently, the Miners are slated to appear on CUSA.tv 15 times, ESPN+ on seven occasions and Stadium Plus twice. When UTEP travels to Kansas City, the game will be on the Summit League Digital Network. Broadcast information has yet to be released for the neutral site games against San Jose State (Nov. 25) and Sacramento State (Nov. 26) in California and the road games against Air Force (Dec. 4) and UTSA (Jan. 11).

WHAT'S NEXT
UTEP returns home for back-to-back games in the Don Haskins Center against Texas Southern (Nov. 16) and Texas State (Nov. 19). The Miners played at Texas State last season, winning 69-57.

HOME TICKET INFO
Tickets start at $8 for regular season games 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 UTEPMiners.com/tickets, by emailing tickets@utep.edu, or by stopping by in person at 500 W. University Ave., 79968 (Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

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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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