UTEP Athletics

Miners Open C-USA Championships Against UTSA on Tuesday

3/6/2022 7:53:00 PM

UTEP Game Notes

EL PASO, Texas – UTEP (14-14, 6-12 Conference USA) enters the 2022 Heritage Landscape Supply Group C-USA Basketball Championships as the No. 6 seed out of the West Division and will open up with a first round game against No. 7 UTSA (6-22, 3-14 Conference USA) on Tuesday at 3 p.m. MT/4 p.m. CT. The game will be played at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Despite playing 41 games in the all-time series, the Roadrunners and Miners have never played in a league tournament.

WHERE TO WATCH & LISTEN
The Miners and UTSA 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 ESPN+ with Ron Thulin (play-by-play) and Colin Boddicker (color) handling the broadcast.

SERIES VS. UTSA
The Miners have won eight straight head-to-head against UTSA, including sweeping the season series with a pair of double-digit wins earlier this year, 69-52 in San Antonio and 71-59 in El Paso. Only one of the last eight meetings has been decided by single-digits, a 77-73 UTEP win on Feb. 23, 2019. UTSA holds a 22-19 edge in the all-time series.

SCOUTING UTSA
The Roadrunners are in their first season under former Texas head coach Karen Aston. The team went 3-14 in league play this season, including wins over Louisiana Tech, Florida Atlantic and UAB. Heading into the C-USA Championships, UTSA has lost seven of the last eight games, including three in a row. Jadyn Pimentel averages 8.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.7 steals per game. Her steals average is 25th in Division I and first in C-USA. LaPraisjah Johnson also posts 8.3 points per contest to go along with 4.3 rebounds. UTSA ranks first in the conference and 20th nationally with 42.0 rebounds per game. Queen Ulabo is the leading rebounder at 5.7 per game. Offense has been hard to come by for the Roadrunners, as 10 opponents have held the squad to 50 points or less on the campaign. The 54.1 points per game averaged by UTSA ranks last in C-USA and 328th in the country. The Roadrunners also rank 14th in the conference in turnovers per game, averaging 20 per contest.

UTEP ALL-TIME IN LEAGUE TOURNAMENT PLAY
Since joining C-USA for the 2005-06 season, the Miners are 16-14 in tournament action. Prior to becoming a member of C-USA, UTEP had went 4-13 in the WAC tournament, giving the program a 20-27 all-time record in league tournament action. The Miners are 8-8 overall in first round games and have won three in a row to help lead to the current mark of 7-3 since becoming a member of C-USA in such contests. As a program, UTEP has made the championship game in 2008 and 2012, winning the title tilt in 2012 to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Miners have advanced to the quarterfinals in 13 of the prior 16 appearances in the C-USA Championships. As a program, UTEP has made it to the semifinal round of a league tournament a total of nine times, including six times in C-USA coming in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2021.

BAKER ERA IN THE C-USA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Miners have won their first game in the C-USA Championships in each season under Kevin Baker, topping Southern Miss 72-67 in 2018, Marshall 64-58 in double-overtime in 2019, Florida Atlantic 95-67 in 2020 and Florida Atlantic again 74-67 in 2021. UTEP is 4-3 in the C-USA Championships under Baker.

THURMAN RETURNS
The UTEP starting lineup featured Destiny Thurman for the first time since Feb. 13 at Marshall in the regular season finale at North Texas. After missing four games, Thurman played 30 minutes and tied a career high with seven rebounds.

CROUSE CONTINUES TO MAKE IMPACT
Avery Crouse has contributed in double figures in six of the last nine games. Over that stretch, Crouse is averaging 9.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting at a 44.9 percent clip from the floor.

AGAINST TEXAS FOES
UTEP is 5-3 against schools from the state of Texas this season.

MINERS IN MARCH
UTEP has posted a .500 or better record in the month of March in all but one season under Kevin Baker since he took over the program in 2017-18.

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

.500 OR BETTER SEASONS
In the history of the program, UTEP has posted 20 seasons with a record of .500 or better, including two seasons in a row entering the 2021-22 campaign.

GALLEGOS ENTERS TOP-10 FOR TRIPLES
Katia Gallegos has hit 97 3-pointers in 81 career games and has now moved into a tie with Ana Valtierra (2002-07) for 10th on the UTEP all-time list.

GALLEGOS REACHES ANOTHER TOP-10
With 51 steals this season, Katia Gallegos has passed Jill Lewis (1993-94, 1995-96) for 10th on the UTEP career list with 145 for her career.

KATIA NEARING 1,000 CAREER POINTS
Katia Gallegos has scored 959 points in her career at UTEP. Gallegos is looking to become the 15th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points all with the Miners.

BAKER BY THE NUMBERS
With Kevin Baker as the head coach, UTEP is an astounding 47-6 when scoring 70 or more in a game. In 20 years as a head coach at various levels, Baker has 417 wins, including 195 at the collegiate level. In his debut season with the Miners in 2017-18, his team set the school record for a first-year coach with 17 wins. When allowing less than 60 points to the opponent, UTEP is 35-12 under Baker.

RECORD NUMBER OF OVERTIME GAMES
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).

UTEP FROM THE PERIMETER
The Miners connected on at least nine 3-pointers for the sixth time this season in the win on Senior Day against Southern Miss. UTEP posted a season-high 11 triples in the home win over North Dakota in November. The Miners are 4-2 when hitting nine or more triples in a game.

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

GALLEGOS SECOND ON 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 against Southern Miss on Feb. 19. Gallegos has dished out 108 assists this season (3.9 apg). With 387 career assists, the El Paso product trails just Jareica Hughes (2006-10), who leads the list with 599.

SUCCESS AT HOME
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.

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.

STILL DROPPING DIMES
After moving into second on the UTEP all-time assists list recently, Katia Gallegos has continued to set her teammates up for success, including leading the way with seven last Thursday at Rice. On the campaign, Gallegos has five games of seven or more assists.

FROM THE FIELD
On the season, the Miners are 11-1 when posting a higher field goal percentage than their opponent.

A NEW SEED
UTEP has never been a No. 6 seed in the C-USA Championships, including back when there were no divisions. The only time the Miners have been a No. 6 seed in a conference tournament was in 1992 as a member of the WAC

C-USA CHAMPIONSHIPS INFORMATION
The 2022 Heritage Landscape Supply Group C-USA Basketball Championships will run from 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.

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 583 free throws attempted this season, UTEP ranks second in C-USA and 22nd in Division I. The Miners have made 71.4 percent of their attempts at the line, knocking down 416 at the stripe to rank first in the conference and 29th 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 13 contests decided by 10 points or less this season. UTEP is 7-6 on the campaign in such games. In games decided by five or less, the Miners are 4-4.

20 STRAIGHT WITH A STEAL FOR KATIA
Katia Gallegos has had at least one steal in 20 straight games, including two or more nine times during that stretch. Her 51 steals for the season leads the Miners and is 11th in the conference.

DOUBLE FIGURE KATIA
Katia Gallegos leads UTEP with 16 games in which she has contributed a double figure scoring output.

DURABLE DUO
Katia Gallegos is the only UTEP player to start all 28 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 22 games on the year.

1,000-CAREER POINTS FOR BATTLE
Graduate transfer Teal Battle tallied 10 points at UNM on Dec. 19 and went over 1,000 points for her collegiate career. She scored 917 at her alma mater Arkansas-Little Rock and has tallied 228 points in 26 games as a Miner. Her 1,000th point came at the 7:58 mark of the third quarter on a layup at The Pit.

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