Women’s Basketball: UTEP beats Southern Miss in C-USA Tournament opener

The UTEP women’s basketball team defeated Southern Miss by a final of 72-67 in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament Wednesday.

UTEP advances to meet top-seeded UAB in the quarterfinals Thursday morning. That game will be broadcast on Facebook at 10 a.m. MST.

UTEP led the game 31-27 at the half and then opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run.

But the tide turned quickly. Southern Miss rallied back, using a 20-1 run to take an eight-point lead late in the third.

But the Miners chipped away and seized control in the fourth to put the game away and advance to the quarterfinals.

Senior forward Tamara Seda scored 19 points and added 14 rebounds to pace the Miners.

UTEP was able to get the win despite turning the ball over eight more times than the Golden Eagles (17-9).

UTEP has now won three games in a row since they lost to Southern Miss in the regular season on Feb. 25.

The Miners met their next opponent, UAB, once during the regular season. UAB won that contest 84-64 at the Don Haskins Center in early February.