Miners not taking last-place Southern Miss lightly

The Prospector

Following a perfect start to Conference-USA play at 6-0, the only negative the Miners have possibly encountered was a suspension for two players that may still stand. UTEP played well without them during their last outing and the same could result when the Miners take on Southern Miss Jan. 26 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

"It's just another team that we have in conference that we're ready to go but, of course, it's hard because it's on the road and we have to play every team hard," sophomore forward Kayla Thornton said.

Freshman forward Chrishauna Parker and sophomore guard Ryah Lacy were both suspended by head coach Keitha Adams for breaking team rules for the Jan. 22 home game against Houston. After their first practice following the game Jan. 24, Adams did not comment on whether the two will be at the Southern Miss contest.

Both Adams and Thornton said they were not distracted by the suspension. When asked about The Prospector article that said the two players may have been in a drug-related incident Jan. 20 at Miner Village, Adams had no comment and said they "have dealt with it and that's pretty much it." Senior forward Gloria Brown was also mentioned in the article but Adams said "the two players that were involved in the situation were suspended."

Even shorthanded, the Miners had no trouble snapping a six-game losing streak to Houston in a 87-43 victory. Following the win, the team gained some national recognition when they received a vote in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today top-25 poll. It was the first time this season that UTEP received a vote in the AP poll and the second time they received a vote in the ESPN/USA Today. They received two votes back on Dec. 20 after starting the season 10-0.

"It's good to be seen nationally but we have to keep our head straight and keep doing what we're doing and keep playing until we reach conference (tournament) and what we're aiming for," Thornton said.

The Miners will now turn their attention to a reeling last-place Southern Miss team that has yet to pick up a conference victory at 0-6. During that span, the Golden Eagles have lost to three teams UTEP has already beat in Tulsa (Jan. 5), Houston (Jan. 8) and Memphis (Jan. 18).

The Miners still feel they cannot take Southern Miss for granted as it is still another conference and road game.

"We know that we have to be ready and ready to play. We know Southern Miss is going to play hard, they're good at rebounding the ball and we're going to have to play 40 minutes," Adams said.

While Adams may note that rebounding is the Golden Eagles' strongest suit, the statistics do not show it. Southern Miss has the second worst rebounding margin and defensive-rebounding total in C-USA, and is the worst offensive-rebounding team in the league.

Just two active players are averaging better than five rebounds a game, led by junior guard Tanecka Carey. On top of her team-high 6.4 rebounds a game, Carey also leads the team in scoring with 16 points per outing. Adams said playing the game at their tempo will be key, especially in the way she's conducted practice this week. She said she emphasized the team's press, press breaker and even challenged her offense in five-on-eight, full-court drills.

"We know we have to be ready for Southern Miss. We've already gotten in a routine," Adams said. "We went over their offenses (Jan. 24) and what their gameplan is and (Jan. 25) we'll do it again so we're just trying to get prepared before we take off."

The Miners are in their final stretch, with just 10 games remaining, including the Golden Eagle matchup. The locations for each are split down the middle with five home and five away games left. The Southern Miss game marks the third road game in their last four contests but coming off a home game, both Adams and Thornton feel they are rested and ready to go.

"I think we're a little rested. You know, the last road games we had were back-to-back so it's kind of a good transfer…and we have a little bit more energy so I think we're going to do great," Thornton said.

William Vega may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.