UTEP Athletics

WNIT Gets Underway For Miners Thursday at Texas Tech

3/15/2023 8:00:00 AM

UTEP GAME NOTES

EL PASO, Texas – UTEP women's basketball opens up WNIT play on Thursday at 5 p.m. MT/6 p.m. CT at Texas Tech in the first meeting between the two sides since 1997.

Each of the last seven games for the Miners (20-11, 12-8 C-USA) have been decided by 10 points or less, with the battle-tested group ready for postseason basketball.

The Lady Raiders (18-14, 6-12 Big 12) are 13-6 at home this season and play in front of an average of 4,990 fans per game.

GAME COVERAGE
Fans can watch all the action live Thursday night on ESPN+. Additionally, Mando Medina will have the call courtside on the UTEP Miners App.

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH
The Lady Raiders are a guard-heavy team led by First-Team All-Big 12 pick Bre'Amber Scott and her 17 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Scott also ranks third on the roster with 34 steals. Additionally, Bryn Gerlich was named an honorable mention selection with 9.2 points and a team-high 3.1 assists per contest. Bailey Maupin has been the second-leading scorer for Texas Tech on the campaign with 9.8 points on average while hitting at a 36.8 percent clip from beyond the arc. For her efforts, she was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. Similar to the Miners, the Lady Raiders attack the rim with regularity, making 15.4 free throws per game, a total which ranks 18th nationally and second in the Big 12.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. TEXAS TECH
UTEP has played Texas Tech 12 times in program history, although the two have not matched up against each other since 1997 in El Paso. The Lady Raiders have won all 12 meetings, including holding a 7-0 edge at home.

UTEP IN THE WNIT
This marks the third trip to the WNIT in program history for the Miners, who previously earned a spot in the field in 2014 and 2016. In 2014, UTEP played all six games in El Paso, finishing as the runner-up after an incredible run to the championship game against Rutgers. The 2016 team reached the quarterfinals after winning three games to start the tournament. Overall, the Miners are 8-2 in the WNIT and 9-4 across all postseason play.

COACHING CONNECTION
UTEP Head Coach Kevin Baker and Texas Tech Head Coach Krista Gerlich were on staff together at West Texas A&M for five seasons where Baker was an assistant under Gerlich. The program was a top-10 team nationally in all five of those seasons, advancing to the NCAA Tournament on four occasions. The job was the first at the collegiate level for Baker, who previously had won 222 games as a high school head coach.

WELCOME TO BIG 12 COUNTRY
The Miners are looking for their third road win against current Big 12 programs. UTEP previously topped Kansas State 52-50 in Manhattan on Dec. 16, 2012 and TCU 73-70 on Dec. 9, 1978 in Fort Worth.

JACKSON SET TO HIT 1,000 POINTS
Jazion Jackson has now scored 994 collegiate points between her time with the Miners and North Texas, including a career-high 366 this season while ranking in a tie for second on the team with 11.8 points per game.

ELINA SETS CAREER HIGH
Elina Arike scored a career-high 23 points in the tight 68-62 loss to Middle Tennessee in the semifinals of the C-USA Championships last Friday. Arike drained a career-high three 3-pointers and equaled her personal best for made free throws by going 10-of-10 at the charity stripe.

SHUTTING DOWN TOP OPTIONS
Defensively, UTEP has been outstanding at multiple points this season against the leading scorer for the opposition, including holding Middle Tennessee leading scorer Savannah Wheeler to just one point in the semifinals last week. It was the second time this season that the Miners had held Wheeler to just one point, including a 65-62 win in El Paso on Feb. 2. UTEP also held UAB leading scorer Denim DeShields scoreless on Dec. 29 and was one of just four C-USA foes to keep Charlotte leading scorer Dazia Lawrence in single digits when she netted nine on Feb. 8.

ROAD READY
UTEP has won seven road games this season, a number which is tied for the fourth most in a single season in program history. With a win, the Miners would tie the 2015-16 team for third in the rankings.

JACKSON PILING UP STEALS
Jazion Jackson is tied for second in C-USA with 66 steals, averaging 2.1 per game.

RAISING THE BLOOD PRESSURE
UTEP has set a program record by playing in 22 games decided by single digits this season. Overall, the Miners are 13-9 in such contests. In conference action, 16 of the 20 games were decided by nine points or less. In those C-USA affairs, UTEP went 9-7, with six of those losses coming by a combined 16 points.

SHARING THE WEALTH
UTEP has had 17 games this year in which at least four different scorers reached double figures, highlighted by a stretch from Feb. 8-17 in which five or more Miners reached double digits in three straight games. There is no prior record of this happening in program history (records incomplete prior to the 1983-84 season).

REACHING 20 WINS
UTEP won its 20th game of the season last week with the triumph over LA Tech. The last time the Miners picked up 20 wins was during the 2015-16 season, with that team finishing 29-5 overall. Seven teams have won 20 or more games in program history.

DOMINANT DUO
The starting combination of Elina Arike and Adhel Tac has helped to differentiate the Miners from their competition this season. Arike has been a staple of consistency as of late, scoring in double figures in 11 of the last 13 games, including eight straight from Jan. 28-Feb. 23. She is third on the roster with 5.5 rebounds per game. Tac has had her best college season to date this year, posting 11 double-figure scoring games, five contests with 10 or more rebounds and two double-doubles. She has taken full advantage of her opportunities, increasing her averages from 1.4 points and 1.3 rebounds in seven minutes per game last season to 7.8 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds in 26.3 minutes per game this time around. Tac worked extensively with Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Chisan Jones this offseason in preparation for her breakout campaign.

UNDER 60 EQUALS WINS
UTEP is 45-13 when limiting the opposition to 60 points or less under Kevin Baker. The Miners are a perfect 10-0 this season when doing so.

DISTRIBUTING THE ROCK
UTEP averages 13.3 assists per game to rank second in C-USA in that category.

N'YAH AT THE POINT
Oklahoma State transfer N'Yah Boyd has made a tremendous impact for the Miners this season, leading the team with 97 assists and ranking in a tie for second with 11.8 points per contest. She has accumulated 20 double-figure scoring games on the campaign, including seven times in the last eight games.

FORCING TURNOVERS
In a display of one of the strengths of the team, UTEP has compiled 12 games of 20 or more turnovers forced.

STARTING EVERY GAME
Jazion Jackson and Avery Crouse are the lone two Miners who have started all 31 games this season. Crouse has now started 112 career games with UTEP, a total which recently surpassed Katarina Zec (2016-20) for the third most in a career in program history. If the Miners make a run to the WNIT championship and Crouse starts all six games, she would pass Kelli Willingham (2010-14) for the most in a career at UTEP. Willingham started 117 games during her time with the Miners.

LIMITING TURNOVERS AT HISTORIC RATE
With just 13.9 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.

CROUSE CAREER CAPSULE
Four-year starter Avery Crouse has scored 936 points with 426 rebounds, 206 assists and 120 steals in 113 games.

LIVING AT THE LINE
The Miners enter the WNIT averaging a league-leading 20.9 free throw attempts per game, ranking 28th nationally.

WHAT'S NEXT
With a win, UTEP would play the winner of the Little Rock at SMU game slated for Thursday night. Time, date and location are to be decided.

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