Miners upend UAB 88-61 to win third straight

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - UTEP led from start to finish to roll to an 88-61 win at UAB on Friday afternoon in Bartow Arena.

The game - originally slated for Thursday night - was moved to Friday due to the potential for severe weather in the area.

There was never much doubt when the two sides finally hit the floor, as the Miners (17-7, 10-5 C-USA) scored the first six points on the way to opening up a 21-13 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.

The quarter was bookended by a N’Yah Boyd buzzer-beating triple from way beyond the arc.

In the first, UTEP hit its first five shots to set the tone against the Blazers (11-14, 3-13 C-USA).

“I thought getting off to a fast start was very important in this game, and our team did that,” UTEP Head Coach Kevin Baker said. “We have just been playing some really good basketball. We played terrific in the first half and sort of set the tone and the tempo and the mood for the rest of the game.”

It was the second quarter though where the Miners really created separation, turning a 25-17 lead into a 24-point advantage in the course of five minutes thanks to a 16-0 run.

The lead would eventually swell to as large as 38 points in the second half.

A 31-point third quarter played a key role, as the Miners eclipsed their previous high in a quarter of 29 with the offensive explosion.

UTEP has now outscored its last five opponents 127-66 in the third quarter, going 4-1 during that time.

“I was impressed with how everybody played,” Baker said. “All 11 players contributed today. We needed all of those players to contribute today. I thought we were aggressive even with a lead. We’ve learned a lot since we’ve been able to hold leads lately by continuing to be aggressive, and we certainly were today.”

For the third straight game, at least five UTEP players reached double figures, as the Miners had six post double-digit scoring outputs on Friday.

“I really thank that is the it factor,” Baker said. “I think that is the reason why we are having so much success. We have a lot of people contributing. We have no superstars on this team. Just a lot of really good players who know how to contribute and how to win.”

Good ball movement ignited the offense early and often, as the Miners tied a season high for the second game in a row with 23 assists.

Jazion Jackson tied her career high with eight assists to pair with 11 points, six rebounds and three steals in another impressive individual performance.

Boyd led the offensive punch with 16 points and five assists as she returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Jan. 19 at FIU.

Erin Wilson reached double figures for the seventh straight game, as her and Adhel Tac each tallied 11 points. Tac also had six rebounds and five assists.

Elina Arike was an important piece of the puzzle once again inside, scoring 14 points on a 6-of-9 day from the floor.

Freshman Soleil Montrose provided a spark off the bench, generating 10 points while hitting a pair of 3-pointers.

The 88 points marks the most in a game this season for the Miners. In the Baker era, UTEP is 26-0 when eclipsing 80 points. Overall, the program has won 28 straight when doing so.

As a team, the Miners shot 35-of-65 (53.8 percent), the best shooting percentage for the squad of the season and the highest clip since knocking down 56.7 percent against UTSA on Jan. 28, 2021.

UAB was held to 22-of-56 (39.3 percent) shooting from the field and a 7-of-27 (25.9 percent) mark from distance.

UTEP now has seven victories on the road this season, the most for the program since claiming eight away from home during the 2015-16 campaign, a season in which the Miners went 29-5.

That team won the C-USA regular season title before advancing to the WNIT.

This season is also the 10th time in program history that UTEP has won 10 or more games in league action.

With the win, UTEP continues to remain positioned well for a bye in the first round of the C-USA Championships.

The Miners lead sixth-place Charlotte and FIU by three games each in the standings, with the top-five teams all automatically advancing to the second round.

A quick turnaround will follow the win at UAB for UTEP, as the Miners are set to depart for Denton on Saturday morning to play at North Texas tomorrow night at 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.