UTEP Women To Play At NMSU Wednesday
EL PASO, TEXAS ? The UTEP women?s basketball team will head up the road to challenge New Mexico State in the in the SONIC® ® America?s Drive-In® battle of I-10 in the Pan-American Center at 6:30 p.m. MST Wednesday. The meeting is the first of two on the year for the programs, with the Aggies venturing to El Paso for a match-up on Nov. 29.
Both teams won their season openers, but the Miners (1-0) are idle until the match-up while the Aggies (1-0) play host to Idaho State at 6:30 p.m. MST Monday. UTEP used a huge second half to defeat Idaho State, 79-63, at home on Nov. 12, while the Aggies relied upon an 11-0 run late in the game to take down reigning Conference USA champion, Houston, 63-62, on the road on Nov. 11.
?New Mexico State plays extremely hard and it had a great win to start its season,? UTEP head coach Keitha Adams said. ?We are going to have to play very hard, really good defense and do a great job in rebounding.?
The Miners (1-0) and Aggies (1-0) have squared off multiple times annually since the start of UTEP?s program (1974-75 campaign), with Wednesday?s match-up being the 77th all time. NM State leads the series, 46-30, including a 29-9 edge in Las Cruces.
The team?s split the series last year, with the road team winning each game. NM State held off UTEP, 80-75, in overtime at the Haskins Center on Nov. 17, 2010 while the Miners derailed the Aggies, 74-67, at the Pan-American Center to ring in the New Year on a high note on Jan. 2, 2011.
NM State has earned a season sweep 16 times, most recently during the 2009-10 campaign. The Miners have registered eight sweeps (last in 2007-08), with half of those coming Adam?s direction. Overall UTEP is 11-9 against NM State during the Adams era, making her the lone coach in program history to post a winning mark against the Aggies.
Following the contest at NM State, UTEP will be back home to challenge Houston Baptist at 7:05 p.m. MST on Saturday. Fans can get in free to the game with their ticket from the UTEP football team?s game against Tulsa, which will kick-off at 1 p.m. MST Saturday. To purchase tickets please call (915) 747-5234.
