Ruben R. Ramirez

UTEP Hosts Southern Miss on Saturday For Senior Day

2/18/2022 4:12:00 PM

UTEP Game Notes

EL PASO, Texas – The Miners (13-11, 5-9 Conference USA) conclude the home portion of the regular season schedule on Saturday at 12 p.m. when Southern Miss (16-8, 8-5 Conference USA) comes to town. The game is sponsored by Oscar Arrieta's All State Agency.

WHERE TO WATCH & LISTEN
The Miners and Southern Miss can be heard on the UTEP Miners app with Mando Medina calling the action. The contest will also be streamed on C-USA TV with Medina on the mic.

SERIES VS. SOUTHERN MISS
After UTEP had won four straight against the Golden Eagles, Southern Miss took the meeting in Hattiesburg earlier this season by a score of 55-49. Overall, the Miners have a 17-10 advantage in the head-to-head series. The Miners have won three in a row in El Paso.

SCOUTING SOUTHERN MISS
By winning five of their last six games, the Golden Eagles have moved into sole possession of first in the West Division heading into the stretch run. After being selected 13th by the coaches in the preseason poll, the squad has dramatically exceeded expectations. Domonique Davis has been a major reason for the rapid ascent for a program that won just seven games a year ago. Davis averages a team-high 15.1 points with 4.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. Melyia Grayson recently won a Conference Player of the Week award and joins Davis in double figures with 12 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per contest. Southern Miss has posted a +4.1 rebound margin on the campaign and shoots 43.6 percent from the floor as a team, led by Grayson at 54.6 percent and Kelsey Jones at 64 percent.

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets start at $8 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 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.).

MINERS AT HOME
UTEP has gone 9-4 this season in the Don Haskins Center. With one more win at home this year, the Miners would become the 16th team in program history to win 10 or more games at home.

PETREE PROPELS FAST START
Mahri Petree earned her second start of the season on Thursday against LA Tech and took full advantage right out of the chutes, helping the Miners to an early 18-9 edge on her way to 10 first half points. For the game, Petree scored a season-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers to pair with six rebounds and a career-high four steals over the course of 28 minutes of action.

GALLEGOS APPROACHES SECOND ON ALL-TIME ASSISTS LIST
Katia Gallegos is just two assists away from moving into a tie for second on the UTEP all-time assists list. Gallegos has dished out 92 assists this season (3.8 apg). The El Paso product sits in third on the school's all-time list with 371 assists. Kellie Willingham (2010-14) ranks second with 373, and Jareica Hughes (2006-10) leads the list with 599.

MINERS TO HONOR BATTLE
UTEP will recognize Teal Battle, a graduate transfer addition for the Miners this season, prior to the game on Saturday against Southern Miss. Before joining UTEP, Battle spent four years at Arkansas Little Rock where she was a two-time Sun Belt Conference Champion, a two-time Sun Belt All-Conference selection and a member of the Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament team. With the Miners this year, she reached 1,000 career points with a layup in the third quarter at New Mexico. Over the course of the season she has continued to add on to her point total and has now scored 1,127 points during her collegiate career over the course of 104 games and 62 starts. A key contributor for the Miners, she has posted two double-doubles this season and impressed with a season-high 20 points in a double-overtime win over Air Force on December 21st.

BATTLE PICKS UP BLOCKS
Teal Battle tied her career high with three blocks on Thursday in the loss to LA Tech. It is the second time in her career that she has tallied three and the first time since transferring to UTEP.

HISTORY AT HOME
Prior to this season, UTEP had posted a winning record at home 30 times in the history of the program. Including this year, the Miners have a 393-240 record at home. The Miners are 44-28 inside the Don Haskins Center under Kevin Baker. In total, UTEP has finished the season with a winning home record in 15 of the last 17 seasons, securing 15 or more wins three times.

WE'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE
The starting five of Katia Gallegos, Elina Arike, Teal Battle, Mahri Petree and Avery Crouse has now been used twice this season by the Miners. The group also took the floor first at New Mexico on Dec. 19.

BALL MOVEMENT CREATES BASKETS
The Miners assisted on 17 of their 22 made baskets against LA Tech on Thursday. In the game earlier this season at Southern Miss, UTEP assisted on 14-of-17 (82.4 percent) of their made shots, marking the best percentage of assists on makes for the year.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
UTEP entered the LA Tech game undefeated when shooting 40 percent or greater from the field. The Miners went 22-of-46 (47.8 percent) on Thursday but were handed the defeat to put them at 10-1 this season when shooting 40 percent or better.

40 PERCENT CROUSE
Avery Crouse has posted a field goal percentage of 40 percent or higher in eight of the last nine contests. Since Jan. 20, her field goal percentage has increased from 34.1 percent to 40.3 percent. For the season, Crouse has started in all 22 games that she has played in.

TRIO ON ROAD TO CAP REGULAR SEASON
UTEP finishes the regular season with three straight on the road after the Southern Miss game, starting with a trip to UAB on Feb. 26. The Miners then head to Rice on March 3 and North Texas on March 5.

BAKER NEARING 200 WINS
Kevin Baker has 194 wins between his time at UT Tyler, Angelo State and UTEP.

WINNING BY 10 OR MORE
UTEP has eight wins this season by 10 or more points, including most recently in a 75-62 handling of North Texas.

LIMITING OPPONENTS ON BOARDS
Opponents of UTEP are averaging just 32.5 rebounds per game, the lowest in C-USA by almost a full rebound per game over UAB at 33.4. The +3.4 rebound margin ranks third in the conference.

FONTANA CRASHING THE GLASS
For the first time in her collegiate career, Brenda Fontana recently posted five or more rebounds in four straight games, including seven boards to pair with 10 points against Rice on Feb. 5.

WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF
The Miners are 10-1 this season when leading at the half.

FROM THE FIELD
On the season, the Miners are 10-1 when posting a higher field goal percentage than their opponent.

C-USA CHAMPIONSHIPS INFORMATION
The 2022 Heritage Landscape Supply Group C-USA Basketball Championships are set for March 8-12 in Frisco, Texas at the Ford Center at The Star. All-session passes are available on UTEPMiners.com under the tickets tab.

DOUBLE FIGURE COMBO
Destiny Thurman and Katia Gallegos are tied for the UTEP team lead with 14 games in which they have contributed a double figure scoring output.

DURABLE DUO
Katia Gallegos is the only UTEP player to start all 24 games this season, with her and Erin Wilson the only two players to see action in each game. Gallegos has played 30 or more minutes in 18 games on the year.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
The Miners have played in 11 contests decided by 10 points or less this season. UTEP is 6-5 for the campaign in such games. The Miners went 10-6 a year ago in games within the same margin. In games decided by five or less, the Miners are 4-4.

KATIA 11TH FOR TRIPLES
Katia Gallegos has hit 93 3-pointers in 77 career games. Gallegos ranks 11th on the school's all-time list, and needs four to crack the program's top-10 list.

GOING DOWNTOWN
The Miners are undefeated at 5-0 this season when hitting at a greater than 40 percent clip from the 3-point line.

GETTING TO THE STRIPE
With 494 free throws attempted this season, UTEP ranks second in C-USA and 26th in Division I. The Miners have made 72.9 percent of their attempts at the line, knocking down 360 at the stripe to rank first in the conference and 16th nationally in that category.

SUCCESS OVER 70
The Miners are 8-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points in a game.

16 STRAIGHT WITH A STEAL FOR KATIA
Katia Gallegos has had at least one steal in 16 straight games, including two or more eight times during that stretch. Her 45 steals for the season leads the Miners and is 11th in the conference.

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