The Prospector

On Saturday, Conference USA crowned its champion when Memphis defeated Tulsa, thus sealing the fate of the 11 other schools that had to wait until Sunday evening to see if they will play postseason basketball. For the likes of UAB, Houston and Tulsa, their seasons will continue with postseason play and, fortunately, the same can be said for UTEP.

After winning five straight games against UAB and New Mexico State, the Miners opened the road portion of their conference schedule hoping to continue their winning ways. Things were not so rosy in Tulsa, with the Golden Hurricane refusing to give in. They continued their good start in conference play by sweeping the weekend series from the Miners, winning the finale on Sunday, 6-4.

Last night the UTEP women's basketball team received its first invitation to the NCAA tournament. ESPN broadcast the event. The women's basketball team will face Western Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA tournament at 9 p.m. (MDT), Saturday March 22 at Stanford, Cali.

After two days of preliminary trials and competition in their respective events, the UTEP women's track team ended the season on a high note, ranking 13th in the nation after competing at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The women tied with the University of Mississippi with 17 points.

Road trouble continued for the tennis team as they were defeated by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Oral Roberts and Pan American in Edinburg, Texas this past weekend. "We had nine matches at home and we had really good results," sophomore Marina De Luca said.

The No. 23 Miners and hundreds of fans waited in anticipation Tuesday at the Don Haskins Center for ESPN to reveal the 2008 Women's NCAA basketball tournament brackets. As ESPN cut to live shots of the Miners during the telecast, the stadium erupted as the Miners were announced as the No.

For the second consecutive year, the UTEP Miners played host to a top 10-ranked team from the state of Arizona. Also similar to last season, pitcher Stacie Townsend was up to the challenge of taking down a national softball power. Townsend (9-5) pitched a complete game in the opener of a doubleheader with the two-time defending champion, the Arizona Wildcats, and picked up her third career win over a ranked team as the Miners won the first game 9-6.

From bumps and bruises to sprained ankles and broken bones, keeping the UTEP athletes in the game are the unsung heroes of the athletic department. With fewer than 25 athletic trainers, Dawn Hearn, head athletic trainer, and her staff are responsible for the treatment of more than 230 student athletes.

Two men take their places and stand across from one another. As the scoreboard is cleared, they salute and wait for the command. "Fence!" As the two advance, retreat and leap toward one another, it is the mere distance of the foil blade that keeps either one of them from touching.