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UTEP Miners
Vydrova vs Sam Houston
64
Sam Houston SHSU 7-22,2-14 CUSA
78
Winner UTEP UTEP 12-18,6-10 CUSA
Sam Houston SHSU
7-22,2-14 CUSA
64
Final
78
UTEP UTEP
12-18,6-10 CUSA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Sam Houston SHSU 15 14 16 19 64
UTEP UTEP 19 16 25 18 78

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

UTEP Women’s Hoops Trounces Sam Houston, 78-64, To Advance To CUSA Quarterfinals

Game Book (PDF)
Season Statistics (PDF)

Huntsville Ala. – UTEP women's basketball (12-18) triumphed over Sam Houston (7-22) ,78-64, in the opening round of the 2024 CUSA Basketball Championships. The Miners now have a quick turnaround as they face No. 1 seed Middle Tennessee Wednesday morning at 10:30 am MT/ 11:30 am CT.
 
GAME COVERAGE
The game against the Lady Raiders will be broadcast on 600 ESPN El Paso and the UTEP Miners App. Jon Teicher and Steve Yellen will have the call. The contest will also be streamed on ESPN+ or fans can follow the live stats here.
 
Despite a close game at half, the Miners stepped on the gas in third and fourth quarters, leading by as many as 19 with eight minutes left in the final frame.
 
UTEP outperformed Sam Houston in nearly every stat category, winning the battles for points in the paint (48-14), points off turnovers (22-8), rebounding (37-35), and blocks (3-1), to name a few. The Miners also forced 17 turnovers from the Bearkats while committing just 10 themselves.
 
Luisa Vydrova had herself a night, posting a career-best 19 points on 72.7 percent (8-11) shooting to lead the Miners, followed by Jane Asinde with 18. Ivane Tensaie, Mariama Sow, and Aaliyah Stanton tallied nine points apiece, with all of Tensaie's coming from beyond the arc.
 
Mahri Petree paced the Orange and Blue on the glass with eight rebounds while also posting a game-high three steals. Delma Zita dished out a game-high seven assists. Asinde, Sow, and Stanton each recorded one block in the contest.
 
UTEP finished the game shooting 47.7 percent (31-65) from the field and 42.9 percent (6-14) from three. The Miners also shot 83.3 percent from the charity stripe, the second-best free throw percentage from the team this season, following only the contest against California Baptist (84.0 percent).
 
"First off, I want to tip my hat to Sam Houston, they play extremely hard, and they really defend," head coach Keitha Adams said. "We did a good job getting the ball inside and 48 points in the paint today was tremendous. Us taking care of the ball and only having 10 turnovers was huge. I thought we controlled the game in a positive way."
 
The Bearkats started the game with an 8-0 run, but the Miners fought back and pulled ahead, 19-15, by the end of the first.
 
UTEP maintained its lead (35-29) in the second quarter. Asinde and Vydrova paced the team with eight points each.
 
The Orange and Blue shot 41.9 percent (13-31) from the floor, 33.3 percent (2-6) from long distance, and 87.5 percent (7-8) from the foul line in the first half. The team had 16 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks.
 
The Miners came alive in the third quarter, pouring in 25 points to take a 60-45 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
Sam Houston never got closer than 12 the rest of the way, and UTEP ran away with the 14-point victory. All seven Miners on the scoresheet tallied at least five points.
 
The Bearkats shot 39.3 percent (22-56) from the field, 40.7 percent (11-27) from three, and 75.0 percent (9-12) from the foul line. They pulled down 35 rebounds, tallied 15 assists, five steals, and a block. Shanti Henry led Sam Houston with 19 points, followed by Sydnee Kemp with 17 and Kassidy Dixon with 11. Kaylee Jefferson grabbed a team-best seven rebounds and Alexus Seaton dished out a team-high six assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Miners compete again Wednesday against CUSA regular-season champion Middle Tennessee. The Lady Raiders emerged victorious in both of the regular season matchups, winning 81-70 in Murfreesboro (1/18/24) and 56-41 in El Paso (2/17/24).
 
The 56 points allowed by the Miners is the second fewest that Middle Tennessee had scored all season.
 
SCOUTING MIDDLE TENNESSEE
Middle Tennessee is 26-4 on the year and went undefeated (16-0) in regular-season conference play. They average 72.1 points and 37.7 rebounds per game. The Lady Raiders pace CUSA and are among the top-100 nationally for assist-to-turnover ratio (1.1-41st), blocks per game (5.0-16th), field-goal percentage (44.4-47th), field-goal percentage defense (35.1-6th), fewest fouls per game (14.6-52nd), free-throw percentage (76.7-37th), defensive rebounds per game (27.2-64th), scoring de­fense (54.5-9th), scoring margin (17.7-13th), scoring offense (72.1-71st), 3-point percentage (35.6-30th), 3-pointers made per game (8.6-19th) and fewest turnovers per game (11.8-9th). They also rank second in three-point attempts per game (24.1-43rd), three-point percentage defense (28.9-69th), and turnover margin (2.93-62nd), and third in rebound margin (3.6-89th).
 
Four Lady Raiders are averaging double digits in scoring, led by Savannah Wheeler with 17.5. The oth­er three are Anastasiia Boldyreva (14.7), Ta'Mia Scott (12.5), and Jalynn Gregory (12.4), while Courtney Whitson (9.4) rounds out the top five scorers. Boldyreva paces the team in rebounds (8.5) and blocks (2.9) while Gregory and Scott snatch a team-high 1.8 steals per game. Wheeler also tops the team in assists with 5.0 per game. Boldyreva is shooting 59.8 percent from the floor with Wheeler leading from beyond the arc at 40.6 percent and Gregory hitting a team-best 90.0 percent from the foul line. Wheeler leads conference and is in the top 100 nationally in seven categories, including assist/turnover ratio (2.14-46th), assists (150-47th) assists per game (5.0-41st), field goal attempts (417-90th), minutes per game (37.9-3rd), points (524-76th), and points per game (17.5-63rd), as well as being ranked in multiple other areas. Boldyreva leads CUSA in four areas, including blocks (88-5th), blocks per game (2.93-4th), field goal percentage (59.8-15th) and field goals (186-94th). Gregory also tops the league in four categories, free throw percentage (90.0-10th), three-point attempts (227-16th), three pointers (82-17th), and three pointers per game (2.73-19th). Whitson ranks second in conference, sixth in NCAA in minutes per game (37.47) and 43rd in the nation in three-point attempts (206). Wheeler sits second in the league and 39th in the nation in free throw percentage (85.7). Finally, Gregory is third in conference and 11th in the country in minutes per game (37.12)
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH THE LADY RAIDERS
UTEP is 3-13 all-time against Middle Tennessee after falling in both regular-season matchups this year. The Miners last beat the Lady Raiders 65-62 on Feb. 2, 2023, thanks to a buzzer-beater three pointer from former Miner Jazion Jackson.
 
 
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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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