Miner Women Gain National Attention

By Veronique Masterson

EL PASO — The UTEP women’s basketball team is on a roll and is starting to gain national attention.

The Miner women defeated the East Carolina Pirates on sunday 81 to 53 and are currently undefeated in Conference USA play and at home.

Sunday’s game against the Pirates was televised to a national audience on ESPN 2.

Miner Athletic officials say Sunday’s game was heavily attended by fans but was not a record-breaker. With 7,300 fans attending, it was the third largest crowd ever for a women’s basketball game.

“The more games they win, the more fans come out and support them,” Rene Vargas, a UTEP Miner fan. “I believe the miner women are going to do very well this year and hopefully they’ll make it to the NCAA tournament.”

“Playing on national television is a dream,” said UTEP Guard Jareica Hughes. “Having a good game, a crowd into it and family watching it back home is real awesome. I feel real good about it right now,” she said.

The Miner ladies are currently ranked 26th in the country and there is a strong possibility they might go into the top 25 this week.