UTEP women get by Tulsa, 69-66
EL PASO, TEXAS- Junior Gloria Brown poured in 20 points, including seven in the final three minutes, to help the UTEP women?s basketball team down Tulsa, 69-66, in front of a season-high 2,642 fans at the Don Haskins Center Thursday evening.
The Miners (12-7, 4-3 C-USA) led by one early on in the second stanza before rattling off eight straight points. The surge afforded UTEP a nine-point advantage (34-25) with 17:01 to play. The Golden Hurricane (5-9, 1-5 C-USA) continued to fight, whittling the deficit down to one on a trio of occasions. The home side would never relinquish the lead, though, much in part thanks to Brown and solid shooting at the free-throw line.
UTEP connected on 89.7 percent (26-of-29) at the charity stripe, including a perfect 4-of-4 over the final 13 seconds. Junior Kim Smith, who joined Brown in double figures with 12 points, was flawless on all eight of her tires. Brown sunk 8-of-10 while junior Dietra Caldwell was 4-of-4.
Freshman Kelli Willingham only had two attempts, but they were the biggest of the game. She was fouled with seven seconds remaining and the Miners clinging to a one-point edge. Willingham calmly sank both tosses, and a desperation three-point shot by Taleya Mayberry was errant.
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UTEP out-rebounded Tulsa to the tune of 41-32, and it is now 10-3 on the season when winning the battle of the boards. The Miners finished at 41.2 percent (21-of-51) from the floor, including a sizzling 42.2 (12-of-23) in the second stanza. The effort in those areas, along at the free-throw line, helped UTEP overcome a campaign-high 24 turnovers.
Brown powered the way while Smith and Ashley Milian (10 points) also reached double figures. Caldwell was the only other Miner to provide much of a scoring punch, concluding the contest with seven points.
The Golden Hurricane were harassed into 15 giveaways while shooting 41.0 (25-of-61) from the field. They struggled mightily in the opening period with a readout of 28.1 (9-of-32) before heating up to 55.2 percent (16-of-29) after the break. Mayberry paced her team with 21 points while Denise Lewis pitched in 17. Taylor Hooker chipped in nine points off the bench.
Defense was the dominant theme early on, with both teams misfiring on nine of their first 10 shots. They traded blows as the stanza wore on, with neither squad able to stake an advantage of greater than three.
There were seven ties and nine lead changes over the first 18 minutes of the contest. Tulsa took what proved to be its last lead of the gone (23-22) after Hooker sunk a jumper with 1:41 remaining in the half. UTEP tallied the final four points of the period, allowing it to head into halftime up by three (26-23).
Lewis knocked down a jump shot 32 seconds into the second stanza to get TU within one (26-25) before the Miners came alive. Milian and Brown fueled an 8-0 run in a span of 3:27. The Orange and Blue appeared to be in good shape as the half wore on, as they were still up by seven (56-49) with 5:06 to play.
Tulsa had other intentions, however, registering six successive points to get within one (56-55) with 3:27 to go. UTEP brought the surge to a close with four straight points-all at the free-throw line- and ultimately extended its edge back out to seven (63-56) with 2:11 to go.
Once again, though, Tulsa would counter. Mayberry scored four straight points while Lewis added two more, and the Golden Hurricane were within one (63-62) with 1:09 left. On the biggest possession of the night, Caldwell found Brown in the post, who scored with three seconds on the shot clock.
Tulsa kept it interesting, however, with a lay-up from Amanda Mason with 21 ticks left. Caldwell re-instated a three point edge by knocking down a pair of free throws. Mayberry afforded her squad one final gasp with a lay-up, but the visitors? hopes were essentially dashed after Willingham came through in the clutch with 3.6 seconds left.
UTEP will be back in action when it plays at Tulane at 1 p.m. MT on Sunday. It will mark the first of two meetings on the year between the former travel partners. The Green Wave will venture to El Paso on Feb. 13.
