Despite tough conference schedule, Miners stand at 4-0

By Daniel Ornelas

The Prospector

After the Miners cruised to an 11-2 record in non-conference play behind a favorable schedule, UTEP showed they could beat even stiffer competition after opening league play 4-0.

The Miners' first four conference opponents were Jan. 5 at SMU, Memphis Jan. 8 and Tulsa Jan. 12, both at home, and at Tulane Jan. 15. The Tigers were the pre-season C-USA favorites and the Green Wave were picked tied for fourth with UTEP. The Mustangs finished one place higher than the Miners last year and were defeated by UTEP when they hosted the C-USA Tournament in 2011. Tulsa came in last place last year but are returning eight players to this year's team.

The Miners had to fight to win their opening games, despite averaging a seven-point margin of victory. They had to overcome a 19-point halftime deficit to Memphis to tie the largest comeback in school history. They then defeated Tulane in overtime and did not put away SMU and Tulsa until the wailing minutes.

Prior to their matchup with Tulane, head coach Keitha Adams felt confident the level of play could continue during the team's five-game winning streak and 4-0 start to league play.

"Tulane's really good, they beat LSU, they had big wins. I think it shows how competitive our conference is and they're well coached," said Adams prior to the game.

Adams and players alike have no complaints on the way the schedule was set up and are simply focused on the opponent at hand.

"I really don't put that much thought into it. With scheduling, we have no say in it. Whatever you get, that's what you have to go do," Adams said.

Senior guard Briana Green added that every C-USA opponent is tough and the team simply has to keep focus and take it one game at time.

"All (four) games have been though, we've had to keep our composure. The home court has helped us win, we just have to keep rolling," Green said. "You never know, they are all good teams. On any day, it can go either way."

Even newcomers have took note of the level of competition in the early portion of the conference schedule, despite not playing any C-USA team before.

"I actually knew (Memphis) because I saw them play last year. I said, ‘Tulane and Memphis are going to be pretty good when I come next year,'" freshman guard Jenzel Nash said. "I knew they would have some good players. Memphis has one of the best players in (junior guard) Brittany Carter."

Much of the team's success can be attributed to the play of senior forward Gloria Brown who leads the team in total rebounds, field goal percentage, steals, blocks and points.

UTEP leads its opponents in total rebounds by over 100, most notably in offensive boards edging the opposition by over 60.

"I think we've showed some positive things, obviously we've got a lot of areas where we can improve on," Adams said. "The kids are a team and that's a wonderful thing, the most important thing. They want to win."

UTEP, with the fifth weakest strength of schedule rating in the league as of Jan. 15, won its first 10 games of the 2011-12 season before suffering back-to-back losses in Dec. 21 against UC-Santa Barbara at home and Dec. 28 at Arizona State by a combined three points. Nine of those 13 games were at home.

Daniel Ornelas may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.