UTEP Women Dominate FAU 95-67 to Advance to C-USA Quarterfinals

The UTEP women's basketball team began today's opening round game against FAU like they were on a mission. The Miners dominated their opponents in the opening quarter and they never looked back, cruising to a 95-67 dismantling of the Owls. The team moves on to the quarterfinals tomorrow afternoon against #2 seed Old Dominion.

Six UTEP players finished in double figures, led by Sabine Lipe and Katarina Zec, who each finished with 16 points. Ariona Gill had 15 points, DeJaNae Roebuck scored 13 off the bench, Avery Crouse added 12, and Arina Khlopkova tossed in 10 points for the Miners. "When we get off to a good start, we usually play really well," UTEP head coach Kevin Baker said afterwards. "It was crucial the way these young ladies came out of the locker room today, and just played a great game from beginning to end. I couldn’t be more proud of them against a very good FAU team that is extremely well coached. It’s a great tournament win for our team."

UTEP led FAU 36-15 after the first quarter with a sizzling 14 of 17 field goals made. They broke school conference tournament records for margin of victory (28), points (95), and 3-pointers made (11), while tying the mark for field goals made (33), 3-point percentage (50%) and overall field-goal percentage (55%). The 95 points are the fourth highest total points scored by a team in C-USA Tournament history.

The 7-seed Miners and 2-seed Monarchs will tip off at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow and the game can be heard on 600 ESPN El Paso. The winner of that game will meet the winner of 6-seed Charlotte and 3-seed Western Kentucky. The C-USA semifinals game will be played Friday night at 7:30 p.m.