The Miners head to North Texas on Saturday to play their second game in as many days.
Via UTEP Athletics
Opening tip has been pushed back to 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT in Denton to accommodate same-day travel for UTEP (17-7, 10-5 C-USA) that was necessitated by the postponement of the originally slated game for the Miners at UAB on Thursday.
That game eventually was rescheduled to Friday, with UTEP coming out on top 88-61 in a wire-to-wire win.
On the other side of things, the Mean Green (9-16, 6-9 C-USA) fell 57-44 at home earlier this week to LA Tech.
North Texas won the meeting against UTEP earlier this season by a 74-71 tally in El Paso.
GAME COVERAGE
Fans can watch the game on Saturday on ESPN3. Live stats will be available on the North Texas SIDEARM Stats Portal.
SCOUTING NORTH TEXAS
Leading scorer Quincy Noble is the player to watch for North Texas, as she averages 16.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. Noble is the third-leading scorer in C-USA and is a two-time All-Conference selection. Jaaucklyn Moore averages 9.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per contest. Scoring the basketball has not been the strength for the Mean Green this season, as North Texas is second to last in the conference averaging 62.3 points each time out. After winning three straight towards the end of January and beginning of February, the Mean Green have lost three in a row, including two by single digits.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. NORTH TEXAS
UTEP is 11-9 in the all-time series against the Mean Green. The Miners are 3-6 against North Texas in Denton.
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RECORD RUN OF BALANCE
The Miners have posted three straight games with five players in double figures. There is no record of this ever happening before in program history, as records are incomplete prior to the 1983-84 season. In the victory at UAB, six UTEP players contributed double-digit scoring outputs.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
The 88 points in the win on Friday at UAB marked the most in a game this season for the Miners. In the Kevin Baker era, UTEP is 26-0 when eclipsing 80 points. Overall, the program has won 28 straight when doing so.
10 FOR 10
UTEP women’s basketball has now won 10 or more conference games 10 times in program history. This is the second time that the team has reached double-digit wins in league play in the last three seasons.
LOVING THE THIRD QUARTER
UTEP has outscored the opposition 447-369 in the third quarter this season, including 127-66 over the last five games, a stretch in which the Miners have gone 4-1. Last time out at UAB, UTEP outscored the Blazers 31-17 in the third quarter.
GLASS CLEANERS
Adhel Tac is third in C-USA play with 6.7 rebounds per game. Jazion Jackson has continued to be active on the glass as well during the conference games to this point, averaging 6.5 per contest to rank fourth in the league in C-USA tilts.
WHAT MAKES THIS TEAM SPECIAL
UTEP has had 14 games this year in which four different scorers reached double figures.
STRIVING FOR A BYE
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. The top-five teams automatically advance in the tournament.
SOLEIL SPARK
Freshman Soleil Montrose provided a spark off the bench Friday, generating 10 points. She has reached double figures four times this season.
ROAD WARRIORS
UTEP is 7-3 away from home this season. The seven wins is the most wins away from El Paso since the 2015-16 squad went 8-3. That team went 29-5 overall on the way to winning the C-USA regular season title and advancing to the WNIT. Two teams have won 10 or more games on the road in a single season, as the 2007-08 team went 10-3 and the 2011-12 group was 11-1.
MOST POINTS IN A QUARTER
The 31 points scored in the third by the Miners at UAB marked the most in a single quarter so far this season and is tied for sixth in a quarter in program history.
WINNING WITH WILSON
Erin Wilson has taken full advantage of her expanded role over the last seven games. In six of those games, she has been a part of the starting lineup. During the time frame, she has reached double figures each time out. She is averaging 14.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per contest over the stretch in which she has played 27.4 minutes per night.
ELINA ELEVATING HER GAME
Elina Arike has made her presence known in conference play as a dominant post option for the Miners. Over the last six games, Arike has reached double figures each time, raising her scoring average for the season from 9.5 per game to 11.4 over the stretch. During that time, Arike is averaging 16.2 per game with 5.8 rebounds per contest. The native of Finland should be squarely on the radar of those around the league for All-Conference recognition.
TEXAS FLAVOR
UTEP has a significant Texas presence on the roster this season featuring five players from the Lonestar State, including four starters in N’Yah Boyd (Mesquite), Jazion Jackson (Dallas), Avery Crouse (Sachse) and Adhel Tac (Garland) in addition to reserve Grace Alvarez (Houston).
GUARD FAMILIARITY
UTEP guards Jazion Jackson and N’Yah Boyd are rarities in the transfer portal era, a pair of transfers with prior experience playing together. Despite the fact that Boyd most recently was at Oklahoma State, her and Jackson had spent the two seasons before that as starters at the guard position for the Mean Green.
CROUSE CLIMBING 3-POINT LIST
In her collegiate career, Avery Crouse has made 90 triples, ranking her in 13th in UTEP program history. This season, she has connected on 28 from downtown, surpassing her previous season best of 23 set during both the 2019-20 and 2021-22 campaigns.
HIGH SCHOOL TEAMMATES
Avery Crouse and Adhel Tac each attended Sachse High in Texas. The two led Sachse to the regional quarterfinals in 2018-19 with a 32-5 record.
DISTRIBUTING THE BASKETBALL
UTEP set a season high with 25 assists on Friday at UAB. Jazion Jackson led the way with eight to tie a career high. Adhel Tac also dished out a career-high six, while N’Yah Boyd had five.
OFF THE BENCH
UTEP had 30 bench points on Friday at UAB.
STEALS FOR JACKSON
Jazion Jackson is fourth in C-USA this season with 48 steals, averaging 2.0 per game.
NO REBOUNDS FOR THE OPPOSITION
UTEP has allowed opponents to only grab 32.0 rebounds per game since the beginning of C-USA play, the lowest mark in the conference over that stretch.
LIMITING TURNOVERS AT HISTORIC RATE
With just 14.0 turnovers per game this season, the Miners are keeping possession of the basketball at one of the best clips in program history. The only UTEP team to average less turnovers per contest was the 2008-09 team at an average of 13.0 per game.
WHAT’S NEXT
UTEP returns to El Paso for the final two home games of the regular season for team starting next Thursday at 7 p.m. MT against FIU.
