UTEP women ready to face Sam Houston in CUSA Tournament play-in game
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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The UTEP women’s basketball team will take on Sam Houston in the Conference USA Tournament play-in game at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Alabama on Tuesday.
The Conference USA Tournament play-in game is a game that has the bottom two teams in the league standings playing against each other for a spot in the quarterfinals. The winner of UTEP and Sam Houston game will face off against No. 1 seed, and the CUSA regular season champions, Middle Tennessee on Wednesday.
UTEP dropped to 11-18, 6-10 in CUSA after an 88-62 defeat at FIU in its regular season finale. The Miners shot 40.6 percent (26-64) from the floor, 26.7 percent (4-15) from beyond the arc, and 54.5 percent (6-11) from the line. The team grabbed 34 rebounds, had 15 assists, one block, and eight steals in the contest. Jane Asinde paced the Miners with 28 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Luisa Vydrova with 11 points and eight rebounds. Asinde also topped the team with three steals and swatted UTEP’s lone block of the contest while Delma Zita dished out a team-high five assists.
UTEP will be without one of its stars this postseason. UTEP head coach Keitha Adams told KTSM that Erin Wilson will be out as she deals with a knee injury. Coach Adams told KTSM that Wilson’s knee injury came during the Miners’ game against Liberty on Mar. 2 at the Don Haskins Center.
Checking in with UTEP women’s basketball before they take off for Huntsville, AL tomorrow for the #CUSA Tournament.
No. 8 UTEP gets No. 9 Sam Houston in the play-in game Tuesday.
HC Keitha Adams says Erin Wilson is out (knee). Tough loss for UTEP heading into postseason. pic.twitter.com/OKVtNfymdF— Sam Guzman (@SamGuzmanTV) March 10, 2024
Sam Houston is 7-21 on the year, including 2-14 in CUSA play. The Bearkats are averaging 66.3 points and 38.2 rebounds per game. As a team, they lead CUSA in multiple categories, free throw attempts per game (24.3- 2nd NCAA), free throws made per game (16.9-4th), offensive rebounds per game (15.4-12th), and turnovers forced per game (19.9-27th). They also rank third in conference in bench points per game (21.2-80th). Among active players, Sydnee Kemp paces the team with 11.3 points per game, followed by Kaylee Jefferson at 11.2. Raanee Smith (9.5), Kassidy Dixon (7.4) and Shanti Henry (7.4) round out the top five scorers. Smith tops the Bearkats on the boards (9.1) and blocks (1.5), Kemp leads the team in assists (1.9), and Dixon owns the tops spot in steals (1.5). Smith leads Conference USA in offensive rebounds per game (4.5-8th NCAA). She also sits third in four other categories, rebounds per game (9.1-52nd NCAA), rebounds (255-71st), blocks per game (1.5-78th), and blocks (41-85th).
UTEP is 4-0 all-time against Sam Houston. The Miners defeated the Bearkats twice in the 2023-24 regular season, 66-61 at home on 1/27/24 and 82-66 at Sam Houston on 2/24/24.
UTEP and Sam Houston go head-to-head in the CUSA Tournament play-in game on Tuesday. Tipoff at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Alabama is set for 4:30 p.m. MT/5:30 p.m. CT. The game will stream on ESPN+.
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