UTEP Athletics

Miners Begin Road Trip at UAB on Saturday

2/25/2022 8:55:00 AM

UTEP Game Notes

EL PASO, Texas – UTEP (14-11, 6-9 Conference USA) tips off a stretch of three road games to conclude the regular season on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT at UAB (14-12, 7-8 Conference USA).

The contest is a rematch of a 76-74 overtime win for the Blazers in El Paso on Dec. 30. In that game, four UTEP players scored in double figures, led by the 17 points of Destiny Thurman. The Miners can move into a tie for fourth in the division with a win.

WHERE TO WATCH & LISTEN
The Miners and UAB can be heard on 600 ESPN El Paso and the UTEP Miners app with Mando Medina calling the action. The contest will also be streamed on C-USA TV.

SERIES VS. UAB
UAB has a 14-11 lead in the overall series against the Miners, including the overtime win earlier this season. In Birmingham, the Blazers have won seven of the nine meetings, including four straight. The last win for the Miners at UAB was on Jan. 8, 2014 in an 85-76 victory to start conference play.

SCOUTING UAB
The Blazers will be taking the floor for their fourth game in the past seven days when they square off with UTEP on Saturday. UAB snapped a four-game losing skid on Wednesday by defeating UTSA 57-50 at home thanks in large part to committing a season-low 10 turnovers on the offensive side of the floor. Since starting conference play 5-2 and leading the West Division, the team has lost six of eight heading into the stretch run. Interior presence Zakiyia Weathersby leads the way for UAB, averaging a team-high 15.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. Weathersby, who stands at 6-foot-2, ranks second in the conference in blocked shots behind Charlotte's KeKe McKinney. She currently ranks fifth in Division I with 19 double-doubles. Beyond the talents of Weathersby, the Blazers feature two other double figure scorers, including Margaret Whitley at 10.7 points per game and Emily Klaczek at 10.6. Both can be dangerous from the perimeter and have combined for 82 3-pointers. The Blazers rank fourth in C-USA in scoring offense, averaging 68.0 points per game and are eighth in scoring defense, allowing 62.9 per contest. UAB is 62-54 all-time against schools hailing from the state of Texas.

UTEP FINISHES HOME SCHEDULE ON A HIGH NOTE
UTEP went 10-4 during the regular season in the Don Haskins Center. The 2021-22 Miners became the 16th team in program history to win 10 or more games at home, with the women's basketball program posting winning records at home in 16 of the last 18 seasons.

GALLEGOS MOVES TO SECOND ON ALL-TIME ASSISTS LIST
Katia Gallegos moved into second on the UTEP all-time assists list by finding Mahri Petree for a 3-pointer with 7:58 left in the fourth quarter last Saturday against Southern Miss. Gallegos has dished out 96 assists this season (3.8 apg). With 375 career asssists, the El Paso product passed the 373 of Kellie Willingham (2010-14). Gallegos now trails just Jareica Hughes (2006-10), who leads the list with 599.

MAHRI MAKING IMPACT
Mahri Petree stepped into the starting lineup last week and led the Miners in scoring each game while setting new season highs for points in back-to-back contests. She started the week with 13 points, six rebounds and four steals over the course of 28 minutes against LA Tech, then scored a career-high 23 points with a career-high six 3-pointers and eight rebounds in the overtime win over Southern Miss on Saturday. Petree raised her scoring average from 3.3 to 4.6 in just two games. The 23 points against the Golden Eagles eclipsed her previous career high of 22 that she scored on Jan. 22, 2021 vs. Loyola Chicago while she was at Bradley.

FONTANA FEELING IT
For the first time in her career, Brenda Fontana has scored 10 or more points in back-to-back games after a pair of big showings last week at home. After dropping 10 points on LA Tech on Thursday, Fontana netted a career-high 13 points on a 6-of-7 effort from the floor in the win over Southern Miss on Saturday.

ARIKE AT THE STRIPE
Elina Arike scored 16 points against Southern Miss to equal her second highest total in a game this season. The big day for the product of Helsinki, Finland was thanks in large part to 10 made free throws on 13 attempts. Each of those free throw totals marked a new career high. In addition to her own offensive production, Arike also set her teammates up for success often, dishing out four assists on the day.

FIVE IN DOUBLE FIGURES AGAIN
For the third time this season, UTEP had five players reach double figures in the win over Southern Miss. The Miners also accomplished the feat on Dec. 21 in a double-overtime win over Air Force and on Feb. 5 in a home loss vs. Rice.

OVERTIME RECORD
UTEP has played in four overtime games so far in 2021-22, eclipsing the previous school record of three. UTEP won at NM State, 82-78 in OT on Dec. 15, against Air Force 93-85 in 2OT, fell against UAB 76-74 in OT on Dec. 30 and topped Southern Miss 86-79 in OT on Feb. 19. The Miners previously played three OT games during the 2007-08 season (W 72-66 OT at NM State, W 67-64 OT at SMU, W 73-72 OT at Southern Miss); the 2017-18 season (W 93-79 OT vs. ECU, W 92-91 2OT at Cal State Fullerton, L 56-52 OT at ODU); and the 2020-21 season (W 80-76 OT vs. NM State, W 81-73 OT at NM State, W 68-64 OT vs. UAB).

BATTLE GRABS BOARDS ON SENIOR DAY
As the lone senior on the roster, Teal Battle made a key contribution with a team-high nine rebounds to celebrate her Senior Day last Saturday.

BIG QUARTER
The 27 points in the first quarter in the win over Southern Miss were the most for the Miners in a quarter since dropping 28 in the first quarter on North Dakota on Nov. 13.

FAST START
As part of the 27-point first quarter on Saturday, UTEP drilled four straight 3-pointers to start the game.

RAINING THREES
The Miners connected on at least nine 3-pointers for the sixth time this season in the win against Southern Miss. UTEP posted a season-high 11 triples in the home win over North Dakota in November.

ONLY GAME OF THE WEEK
The Miners have only had one other week this season with just one game, with UTEP topping Air Force 93-85 in double-overtime on Dec. 21 in the Don Haskins Center.

BAKER NEARING 200 WINS
Kevin Baker has 195 wins between his time at UT Tyler, Angelo State and UTEP.

THREE IN A ROW ON ROAD
For the second time this season, UTEP is getting set to embark on a stretch of three straight games on the road. From Dec. 13-19, the Miners won at Texas State and New Mexico State before falling to New Mexico in The Pit.

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 32.9 rebounds per game, the lowest in C-USA by over a rebound per game over UAB at 34.4. The +3.2 rebound margin ranks fourth in the conference.

WHEN LEADING AT THE HALF
The Miners are 11-1 this season when leading at the half.

FROM THE FIELD
On the season, the Miners are 11-1 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.

WHAT'S AT STAKE
The final three games of the regular season will go a long way in deciding what the UTEP schedule will look like at the C-USA Championships. The Miners currently sit in fifth in the West Division standings, but are just a game back of UAB for fourth and a half game ahead of Rice for sixth. Teams that finish in the top five of their division avoid the first round games on Tuesday, March 8 between the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds from each division.

KATIA 11TH FOR TRIPLES
Katia Gallegos has hit 94 3-pointers in 78 career games. Gallegos ranks 11th on the school's all-time list, and needs three 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 528 free throws attempted this season, UTEP ranks second in C-USA and 29th in Division I. The Miners have made 72.5 percent of their attempts at the line, knocking down 383 at the stripe to rank first in the conference and 22nd nationally in that category.

SUCCESS OVER 70
The Miners are 9-1 this season when scoring 70 or more points in a game.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
The Miners have played in 12 contests decided by 10 points or less this season. UTEP is 7-5 for the campaign in such games. In games decided by five or less, the Miners are 4-4.

17 STRAIGHT WITH A STEAL FOR KATIA
Katia Gallegos has had at least one steal in 17 straight games, including two or more eight times during that stretch. Her 46 steals for the season leads the Miners and is 11th in the conference.

DOUBLE FIGURE KATIA
Katia Gallegos leads UTEP with 15 games in which she has contributed a double figure scoring output.

DURABLE DUO
Katia Gallegos is the only UTEP player to start all 25 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 19 games on the year.

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