UTEP Athletics

UTEP Looks to Take Buzz Out of Hornets on Saturday

11/25/2022 11:03:00 PM

UTEP GAME NOTES

EL PASO, Texas – For the second straight season, UTEP women's basketball has won five straight games to begin the season.

The Miners (5-0) take on a Sacramento State (4-1) team boasting a four-game winning streak on Saturday at noon PT/1 p.m. MT to conclude play in the Holiday Beach Classic at Cal Poly.

GAME COVERAGE
There will be no live stream offered for the neutral site games of the Holiday Beach Classic. Live stats for the game on Friday can be found on the Cal Poly StatBroadcast Portal.

SCOUTING SACRAMENTO STATE
The Hornets have started the season hot, winning their last four games, including victories over Santa Clara, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis and Cal Poly. Oakland transfer Kahlaijah Dean has been a tremendous problem for opponents to this point, averaging a team-high 19.6 points with 5.6 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. Dean is shooting 56.9 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc. Isnelle Natabou averages a double-double with 15.6 points and 10.6 rebounds per contest. Sacramento State has had consistency in its starting lineup this season, with four of five games featuring the same five to tip the game off. The Hornets were picked fifth in the Big Sky in the preseason polls released by the coaches and the media.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. SACRAMENTO STATE
UTEP has only played Sacramento State one time in program history, a 67-49 win in San Diego on Dec. 30, 2008.

BAKER WINS 200TH GAME
Kevin Baker won the 200th game of his collegiate career between his time at UT Tyler, Angelo State and UTEP on Friday against San Jose State. With the Miners, Baker has compiled 78 wins over the course of his first six seasons on the sideline. Including his time coaching high school basketball, Baker has 422 overall wins as a head coach.

STILL UNBEATEN
In NCAA Division I women's basketball, 46 teams are undefeated as of Nov. 25. The Miners and Rice are the only two C-USA teams remaining without a blemish on their record.

LIVING ON THE ROAD
From Nov. 20-Dec. 28, a stretch of 38 days, UTEP will play just one home game in the Don Haskins Center. That lone game will be a date with NM State on Nov. 30. The Dec. 29 conference meeting with UAB is the solo home game for the Miners in the month of December.

STARTING 5-0
The Miners have started the year 5-0 a total of seven times now in program history. The 10-0 start by the 2011-12 team still stands as the best beginning to a season. That group would go on to finish 29-4 on the way to advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

FINISHING STRONG
The Miners scored the final 16 points of the game on the way to a 67-54 victory over San Jose State on Friday afternoon. Trailing 52-46 early in the fourth quarter, the Miners put down the clamps on the Spartans, capping the contest on a 21-2 run and keeping the opposition off the board for the final 7:03 of game action. San Jose State missed its final 12 shots of the game.

NOVEMBER NUMBERS
The month of November has been kind to the UTEP women's basketball program since Kevin Baker took over prior to the 2017-18 campaign. Since then, the Miners are 24-7 overall, including an 18-2 mark over the past four seasons. This season, UTEP is a perfect 5-0 with just two games remaining in the month.

ARIKE RETURNS
After missing the last three games, forward Elina Arike was back in action for the Miners on Friday against the Spartans, scoring 13 points with five rebounds. She was efficient from the floor, going 5-of-6 on her shot attempts.

TAC IN TOP-10
Forward Adhel Tac is seventh in C-USA, averaging 7.0 rebounds per game. She has started each of the last four contests and is also averaging 6.6 points per game.

18 SQUARED
After scoring 18 points against Texas State last Saturday, Jazion Jackson repeated the feat with 18 once again in the win over San Jose State.

WHEN SCORING 70
UTEP is 50-6 when scoring 70 or more points with Kevin Baker as the head coach.

BOYD ON THE BOARDS
Guard N'Yah Boyd is second on the team with 6.5 rebounds per game and has brought down seven or more in three of the four contests that she has played in. Boyd had 12 points and eight rebounds in the win over the Spartans on Friday.

JACKSON LEADS C-USA IN STEALS
Guard Jazion Jackson leads C-USA with 18 steals on the season and is also atop the league leaderboard averaging 3.6 per contest.

BACK IN CALIFORNIA
UTEP is playing in California for the first time since knocking off Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside on back-to-back nights on Dec. 29-30, 2017. The Miners topped the Titans 92-91 in overtime and won 73-62 against the Highlanders. In program history, UTEP has played in California 55 times after the win over Sacramento State on Friday.

SAME STARTERS
UTEP has rolled out the starting lineup of Jazion Jackson, N'Yah Boyd, Soleil Montrose, Avery Crouse and Adhel Tac in three straight games.

MINERS IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
UTEP has been tough to beat in non-conference action over the last three-plus seasons, posting a 23-8 mark dating back to the start of the 2019-20 campaign, with above .500 marks in each of those seasons in out of league play.

NM STATE GAME TO AIR ON ESPN+
When the Miners host NM State on Nov. 30, the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. KVIA sports reporter Rachel Phillips and Mando Medina will have the call courtside in the Don Haskins Center.

VALKOVA DEBUTS
Weatherford College transfer forward Adela Valkova saw her first action of the season against San Jose State, bringing down a rebound in one minute on the floor.

MONTROSE NAMED FRESHMAN OF WEEK
UTEP women's basketball guard Soleil Montrose was named the C-USA Freshman of the Week presented by Blenders Eyewear on Monday by the league office. Montrose, a product of Mater Dei High School in California, averaged 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last week as the Miners picked up wins over Texas Southern and Texas State to improve to 4-0. She exploded onto the scene with 19 first-half points for the Miners in a win over Texas Southern on Wednesday on the way to a team-high 23 points. For the game, she would go 9-of-18 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the perimeter while also bringing down six rebounds. Her outstanding week continued on Saturday in a 72-68 overtime victory over Texas State with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists. In that win, Montrose went 2-of-5 from downtown while extending her streak to three straight games scoring 10 or more points. The freshman earned a spot in the starting lineup for each game, playing 30 minutes on Wednesday and 37 on Saturday. Montrose is the first UTEP player to receive the honor since Arina Khlopkova in December of the 2019-20 campaign.

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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