UTEP women open C-USA Tournament play Thursday vs. LA Tech

EL PASO, Texas - UTEP women’s basketball enters the Conference USA Championships as the No. 4 seed and will begin tournament action on Thursday vs. No. 5 LA Tech.

Opening tip is slated for 10:30 a.m. MT/11:30 a.m. CT inside the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco.

The Miners (19-10, 12-8 C-USA) swept the regular season series against the Lady Techsters (19-11, 12-8 C-USA), who were picked second in the preseason poll by head coaches from around the league.

GAME COVERAGE

Quarterfinal and semifinal action in the C-USA Championships will air on ESPN+ with Chris Mycoskie and Kyle Youmans on the call.

Fans can listen in live as well on 600 ESPN El Paso and the UTEP Miners App with Jon Teicher and Steve Yellen describing the action courtside inside the Ford Center at The Star.

SCOUTING LA TECH

C-USA Preseason Player of the Year Keiunna Walker leads the way for one of the hottest teams in the conference, as the Lady Techsters have won seven of their last eight games, including a sweep of the Florida schools on the road last week to cap the regular season.

Walker is second in the conference with 17.9 points per game to pair with 4.5 rebounds on average and a team-high 34 steals.

She does an outstanding job of getting to the rim, ranking ninth nationally with 206 free throw attempts this season.

The rapid ascent for LA Tech correlates directly with the return of Anna Larr Roberson, with the team going 7-1 since she rejoined the active lineup on Feb. 9 vs. FIU.

For the season, Roberson averages 12.7 points and 6.6 boards per contest.

LA Tech is efficient from the floor, ranking second in C-USA with a 44.3 field goal percentage and first with a 33.7 percent clip on 3-point attempts.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. LA TECH

UTEP swept the regular season series with the Lady Techsters, winning 62-54 to open conference play in Ruston and protecting the home court with a 72-66 triumph in El Paso.

Overall, LA Tech leads the head-to-head series 16-10. This is the third meeting in the conference tournament. Most recently, UTEP won 81-72 in the 2014 quarterfinals.

LA Tech came out on top 74-47 in the semifinals of the 2004 WAC Tournament.

CARDIAC MINERS

UTEP has tied a program record by playing in 21 games decided by single digits this season.

Overall, the Miners are 13-8 in such contests. In conference action, 16 of the 20 contests were decided by nine points or less.

In those C-USA affairs, UTEP is 9-7, with six of those losses coming by a combined 16 points.

WHAT’S NEXT

With a win, UTEP would play a semifinal on Friday at 3:30 p.m. MT/4:30 p.m. CT.

That game would be vs. either No. 1 Middle Tennessee, No. 8 FIU or No. 9 Charlotte.

The Lady Raiders have a bye into the quarterfinals and await the winner of the Panthers vs. 49ers clash on Wednesday.