Miners and WKU to Battle For Second Place Thursday

3/1/2023 1:27:00 PM

UTEP GAME NOTES

EL PASO, Texas – With a first-round bye in the Conference USA Championships already secured, UTEP women's basketball is set to take on WKU on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. MT/6:30 p.m. CT inside E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Miners (19-8, 12-6 C-USA) and Lady Toppers (15-12, 12-6 C-USA) are tied for second in the league standings with two games each left to play.

A win on Thursday is required in order to help UTEP to secure the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.

GAME COVERAGE
Fans can watch the game on Thursday on CUSA.tv. Live stats will be available on the WKU SIDEARM Stats Portal.

SCOUTING WKU
The Lady Toppers are a balanced team featuring five players that average between 8.5 and 10.6 points per game. Freshman Acacia Hayes is the top scorer this season with 10.6 per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the floor. Hayes has garnered C-USA Freshman of the Week accolades twice this season. Jaylin Foster is a two-way standout for WKU that scores 9.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in addition to leading the team with 55 steals and 15 blocks. WKU takes 29 attempts from beyond the arc per contest, ranking third nationally. The team is also aggressive defensively, swiping 11.9 steals per game to rank sixth nationally. Hope Sivori is the highest volume 3-point shooter for the squad, sinking 47-of-127 (37 percent) of her attempts on the campaign.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. WKU
WKU leads the head-to-head series 5-3 over UTEP. This is just the third meeting at WKU, with each side having won once. Most recently in Bowling Green, the Lady Toppers came out on top 78-65 on Feb. 13, 2020. The Miners won 85-78 on Feb. 6, 2016 in the first game played between the two at WKU.

A BAKER'S DOZEN
Kevin Baker has his team positioned to potentially eclipse the 2020-21 team for the high mark for conference wins during his time in El Paso. That team came away on top in 13 games, with the 2022-23 squad at 12 with two to play. Seniors Avery Crouse and Sabine Lipe were each also on the 2020-21 squad. The 19 wins this year marks the most in a season for a Baker team at UTEP. His 2017-18 and 2020-21 teams each won 17 contests.

20 WINS IN REACH
UTEP last picked up 20 wins during the 2015-16 season, with that team finishing 29-5 overall while winning the regular season conference championship, eventually advancing to the quarterfinals of the WNIT. Six teams have won 20 or more games in program history.

LOOKING AHEAD TO C-USA CHAMPIONSHIPS
UTEP can finish anywhere from second to fourth in the final conference standings depending on results this week. The Miners control their own destiny and can finish as the No. 2 seed with wins against WKU and Middle Tennessee.

ALL COMING TOGETHER
UTEP has won five of its last six games, including 27-point blowout decisions vs. UTSA and at UAB.

RAMPING UP THE PRESSURE
The Miners came away with 16 steals in the 63-55 win over Florida Atlantic last Saturday, the second-highest total of the season behind the 17 in the opener against New Orleans. Jazion Jackson and N'Yah Boyd each swiped four steals, with Avery Crouse racking up three of her own.

SPEAKING OF DEFENSE
It was a career effort on Senior Day for Avery Crouse, who blocked a career-high four shots vs. Florida Atlantic. She also had three steals to pair with 15 points.

START TO FINISH
UTEP never trailed against Florida Atlantic, building a lead as large as 18 at one point in the third quarter. This is the third time this season that the Miners have not allowed the opposition to hold a lead.

LONG STREAKS
Prior to the game last Saturday against Florida Atlantic, Jazion Jackson (10 games) and Elina Arike (eight games) had each posted impressive runs of games in double figures.

DOUBLE-DIGIT CONFERENCE WINS
UTEP women's basketball has now won 10 or more conference games 10 times in program history. This is the second time that the team has reached double-digit wins in league play in the last three seasons.

UNDER 60 EQUALS WINS
UTEP is 44-13 when limiting the opposition to 60 points or less under Kevin Baker. The Miners have added nine wins to the total already this season.

FORCING TURNOVERS
In a display of one of the strengths of the team, UTEP has compiled 12 games of 20 or more turnovers forced, led by the season opener against New Orleans in which the Miners forced 33 turnovers.

SUCCESS AWAY FROM HOME
UTEP is 7-4 away from home this season. The seven wins is the most away from El Paso since the 2015-16 squad went 8-3. That team went 29-5 overall on the way to winning the C-USA regular season title and advancing to the WNIT. Two teams have won 10 or more games on the road in a single season, as the 2007-08 team went 10-3 and the 2011-12 group was 11-1.

WINNING EVERY QUARTER
The Miners have outscored opponents in each quarter over the course of the season, led by a 494-423 edge in the third quarter of games.

BLANKETING THE PERIMETER
UTEP held Florida Atlantic to just one made 3-pointer last time out, marking the second time the Miners have essentially eliminated the long-distance threat this season. The Owls went 1-of-12 for the game and were held to just six assists, which also tied a season low for a UTEP opponent.

CLOSING IN ON 1,000
Jazion Jackson has now scored 957 collegiate points between her time with the Miners and North Texas, including a career-high 329 already this season while leading UTEP with 12.2 points per game.

LIMITING TURNOVERS AT HISTORIC RATE
With just 13.7 turnovers per game this season, the Miners are keeping possession of the basketball at one of the best clips in program history. The only UTEP team to average less turnovers per contest was the 2008-09 team at an average of 13.0 per game.

SPECIAL GROUP
UTEP has had 16 games this year in which at least four different scorers reached double figures.

NO REBOUNDS FOR YOU
UTEP has allowed opponents to only grab 32.9 rebounds per game since the beginning of C-USA play, the lowest mark in the conference over that stretch.

RAISING THE BLOOD PRESSURE
To this point, 14 of the 18 conference games that the Miners have played have been decided by single digits. In such contests, UTEP is 9-5, with four of those losses coming by a combined nine points.

STARTING EVERY GAME
Jazion Jackson and Avery Crouse are the lone two Miners who have started all 27 games this season. The duo has been a staple of durability throughout the season. Crouse has now started 108 career games with UTEP.

REBOUNDING DUO
Jazion Jackson has continued to be active on the glass during the conference games to this point, averaging 6.5 per contest to rank tied for third in the league in C-USA tilts. Adhel Tac is also tied for third in C-USA play with 6.5 rebounds per game.

LIVING AT THE LINE
UTEP averages 14.5 free throws made per game, ranking 36th nationally and third in C-USA. The Miners are averaging 21.0 attempts per game, ranking 29th nationally and first in the conference.

CROUSE CAREER CAPSULE
Four-year starter Avery Crouse has scored 910 points with 412 rebounds, 201 assists and 115 steals in 109 games.

JACKSON STEALS UPDATE
Jazion Jackson is tied for third in C-USA this season with 59 steals, averaging 2.2 per game.

WHAT'S NEXT
UTEP finishes the regular season on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT/2 p.m. CT at No. 24 Middle Tennessee.

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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