UTEP Athletics

9-2 Miners Set to Play at Rice in Saturday Matinee

12/30/2022 3:51:00 PM

UTEP GAME NOTES

EL PASO, Texas – After winning back-to-back games to begin Conference USA play, UTEP departs for a quick trip to Rice in the final game before the calendar flips to the new year.

The two teams will meet on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT/2 p.m. CT inside the Tudor Fieldhouse.

The Owls (9-2, 0-2 C-USA) and Miners (9-2, 2-0 C-USA) each played on Thursday, with Rice falling 79-74 at home to WKU and UTEP topping UAB 76-58 in the Don Haskins Center.

GAME COVERAGE
Fans can watch the game on Thursday on CUSA.tv with Jason Metko calling the action courtside. Live stats will be available on the Rice SIDEARM Stats Portal.

SCOUTING RICE
Following an undefeated record in non-conference action, the Owls have dropped two straight tight contests to start C-USA against Middle Tennessee and WKU, who are each expected to finish in the upper portion of the league standings. Rice was a young team a season ago that came on strong late in the year. Three active players average double figures for the team, led by Destiny Jackson with 14.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. A talented duo of interior players surrounds Jackson, with Preseason All-Conference selection Ashlee Austin posting 14.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game and Malia Fisher 12.2 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. In out of conference play, the Owls picked up impressive wins over Texas A&M, TCU, Houston, Stephen F. Austin and Saint Mary's among others.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. RICE
In recent history, Rice has found success against the Miners, winning nine straight head-to-head. The all-time series favors the Owls at 35-15. In a tight 72-69 loss in El Paso last season, the Miners generated a chance at the buzzer that didn't fall in an attempt to force overtime. Rice won 82-62 in Houston in the second to last regular season game of the season. UTEP is 6-6 in the last 12 games against the Owls in the Tudor Fieldhouse.

ANOTHER FAST START
UTEP has led at the end of the first quarter in back-to-back games, including jumping all over UAB with an 11-0 run to start that eventually turned into a 24-4 advantage later in the quarter.

GUARDS PLAYING LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
In the win on Thursday against the Blazers, UTEP continued to see the backcourt play outstanding defense, holding UAB leading scorer Denim DeShields scoreless.

BOYD BRINGING IT TO BEGIN CONFERENCE
N'Yah Boyd netted a season-high 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor on Thursday. The standout performance followed what had been another solid game at LA Tech to open league play in which she scored 11 points with four assists and two steals as UTEP upended a Lady Techsters team that had been picked second in the C-USA Preseason Coaches' Poll.

ADHEL ALL ABOUT BOARDS
In what has been a breakout season, Adhel Tac has hauled down 10 or more rebounds in three games and has 79 on the season for an average of 7.2 per game, ranking fifth in the conference.

SPEAKING OF REBOUNDING
UTEP guards have been outstanding on the glass all season, with Jazion Jackson tying a career high with nine against UAB on Thursday. The Miners won the battle on the boards 40-29 over the Blazers and have done so against the opposition six times on the campaign.

NEAR DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Jazion Jackson paired her nine rebounds with 13 points to nearly reach the first double-double of her career vs. UAB.

EFFICIENT ELINA
Elina Arike went 4-of-7 from the floor against UAB to tally eight points with seven rebounds over 25 minutes.

WIRE-TO-WIRE
The Miners led start to finish on the way to victory against UAB.

GETTING TO THE LINE
UTEP is averaging 15.6 free throws made per game, ranking 25th nationally and third in Conference USA. The Miners are also averaging 21.9 free throw attempts per game, ranking 28th nationally and third in the conference.

RICE ALSO ACTIVE AT STRIPE
While UTEP gets to the line at a high percentage, Rice leads the conference with 23.6 attempts per contest, ranking 10th nationally. The Owls average 17 makes per game, a total which is second in C-USA and eighth nationally.

BEST SHOOTING OF THE SEASON
UTEP went 31-of-62 (50 percent) against the Blazers to mark the best clip from the floor to this point in the campaign for the program.

CROUSE ENTERS TOP-10
Avery Crouse has started 91 games in her career as a Miner, ranking ninth in program history. Kelli Willingham has the all-time record with 117 starts from 2010-14.

MONTROSE MAKES MOST OF MINUTES
Freshman Soleil Montrose continued the solid start to her initial collegiate campaign with eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals on Thursday.

ALVAREZ BLOCKS A PAIR
After not having registered a block in her collegiate career entering the game, Grace Alvarez swatted two in just 12 minutes in the win over UAB.

UTEP DOMINATING TURNOVER MARGIN
One key area for UTEP this season has been a +5.3 turnover margin that leads the conference and is 31st nationally. The Miners are forcing opponents into 19.0 turnovers per game while committing just 13.7 of their own.

JACKSON LEADING C-USA IN STEALS
Junior guard Jazion Jackson leads C-USA and ranks 95th nationally with 27 steals in her first season with the Miners. Jackson averages 2.5 steals per game, ranking first in C-USA and 59th nationally. Jackson is part of a UTEP backcourt that has played lockdown defense against the opposition throughout the season.

C-USA NON-CONFERENCE REPORT
This season in non-conference action, seven of the 10 C-USA teams posted .500 or better records on the way to a 62-39 overall mark.

LIMITING OPPORTUNITIES
LA Tech took just 39 shots in the UTEP win in the conference opener, the lowest number the opposition has recorded in the Kevin Baker era.

MORE ON THE DEFENSE
Entering the game on Thursday, UAB averaged nearly 80 points per game. The Miners held the Blazers to just 58 points on 20-of-54 (37 percent) shooting.

RICE GAME IN EL PASO TIME CHANGE
The home game on Jan. 14 against Rice has been moved up an hour to a noon MT tip to allow the visiting team the ability to make a flight out of town the same day.

THE STARTING FIVE
The starting lineup of N'Yah Boyd, Jazion Jackson, Avery Crouse, Adhel Tac and Elina Arike has taken the floor to begin four straight games. In the win at LA Tech, Boyd, Jackson, Crouse and Tac each played 36 minutes or more.

ROUND TWO COMING SOON
After taking a road win at LA Tech on Dec. 18, the Miners will play the Lady Techsters once again on Jan. 7 in El Paso. In another schedule quirk, UTEP will play two games against Rice in the span of 14 days on Dec. 31 and Jan. 14.

WHAT'S NEXT
UTEP will have a week off before taking the floor for game action again. The Miners host LA Tech on Jan. 7 at 1 p.m. MT in the Don Haskins Center. The Miners won the meeting earlier this season between the two sides in Ruston by a final score of 62-54.

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 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.).

Help support UTEP student-athletes by making a gift to the Miner Athletic Club.

Visit givingto.utep.edu/mac today!

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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