Miners fall to Cougars in C-USA Quarterfinals

The UTEP women's basketball team showed its mettle in playing their second game in as many nights against one of the best teams in the conference.
At the end, the Miners just ran out of gas and time.

The Miners overcame an 18-point second half deficit to capture the lead late, before Houston escaped with a 57-55 victory in the Conference USA quarterfinals March 9 at the Donald Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Jareica Hughes wrapped up her UTEP career with a team-high 13 points and seven rebounds while Briana Green pitched in with 10 points while Sviatlana Trukshanina finished with nine. Forward Anete Steinberga had a game-high 16 rebounds.

For the Cougars, Forward Courtney Taylor finished with a double-double with team highs in points (14) and rebounds (11). Porshe Landry finished with nine points and eight rebounds while Lesslee Mason and Roxana Button each pitched in eight points.

It was a struggle shooting from the field for both teams on the night, with the Cougars shooting 38.3 percent to UTEP's 35. The difference for Houston was their ability to get to the free throw line as they outscored the Miners 17-4 in that department.
Getting to the line was enough for Houston to overcome their 16 turnovers, which the Miners converted into 11 points.

Despite the shooting woes, Houston was able to get the early jump on the Miners. The Cougars scored the game's first seven points and held the Miners scoreless for the game's first four minutes. While the Miners were able to trim the deficit to 11-9 with 12 minutes remaining, they quickly saw Houston pulling away.

The Cougars proceeded to score 13 unanswered points in a span of 3:15 to take a 24-9 lead with under eight minutes remaining in the first half. UTEP tried to come back before halftime, cutting the deficit to as little as eight points, but could not get closer and went into the break trailing 34-23.

UTEP managed to shoot just 26 percent from the floor compared to Houston's 44 percent and was outrebounded 23-17 in the first half, leading to Houston jumping out to the double-digit advantage.

The start of the second half had Houston extend their advantage thanks to a 10-0 run that gave the Cougars their biggest lead of the game at 48-30 with 12:53 remaining.
But the Miners came back and cut into the deficit thanks to the play of their defense. UTEP held Houston to just one free throw over a 10-minute span and in the process outscored the Cougars 20-1, which gave them a 50-49 advantage, their first lead of the game.

UTEP led 55-53 with 1:40 remaining after a Steinberga basket, but was unable to hold the lead. A pair of free throws by Landry and a bank shot by Taylor with 36 seconds remaining gave Houston a two-point lead. The Miners had a chance to take the lead, but Hughes' 3-pointer with 17 seconds left rimmed out. After Landry missed the front end of a one-and-one, the Miners were unable to get a shot off in the final seconds.

Herman Rojas may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.