Women’s Hoops: UTEP beats FIU to secure spot in C-USA Tournament

The UTEP women’s basketball team secured its spot in the Conference USA Tournament by beating FIU 86-70 at home Thursday night.

The Miners entered the night in 12th place in Conference USA with FIU right behind them in 13th place. The top 12 teams in the 14-team conference make the C-USA Tournament.

Zuzanna Puc led the way for UTEP with a career-high 27 points and 11 rebounds.

But she wasn’t the only member of the team to stuff the stat sheet. Najala Howell also posted a double-double with 11 points and a career-best 16 rebounds.

The Miners (15-13, 6-9) jumped out to a 24-11 lead after the first quarter, then held off the Panthers to get their sixth conference win of the year. That puts them in a four-way tie for ninth in C-USA with one regular season game to go.

UTEP will meet Western Kentucky in their regular season finale Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Don Haskins Center.

The Miners will be honoring Tamara Seda, their lone senior, before the game.