After a 6-0 start, the women’s basketball team will now travel to Las Cruces, N.M. on Dec. 3 for the rematch against their rivals, the New Mexico State Aggies.
In the first outing between the Miners and the Aggies, the Miners had four players score in double figures (Thorton, Telles, Willingham, Nash). They led at halftime by only six points. The defensive intensity picked up dramatically in the second half and they ran away with the lead to crush NMSU, 94-69 on Nov. 12.
The points from turnovers differential was in favor of the Miners by a 29-7 margin.
The Aggies have a 3-4 record thus far and they are coming from a win over Northern Illinois and a loss to Milwaukee.
“It will be a good test for us,” said head coach Keitha Adams. “They are an athletic team that can shoot. We have to play our basketball to win the game.”
The Miners are 5-7 under coach Adams when making the trip to Las Cruces to play the Aggies.
It has also been five times under coach Adams that the Miners have swept the season series against NMSU.
UTEP is 15-10 overall against the Aggies under coach Adams.
“We’ll need to be ready,” Adams said. “We need to play for 40 minutes. We’re going to have to play from start to finish.”
Anytime a team goes on the road, especially when it’s against NMSU, the defensive stops need to be there to give the visiting team a chance to win.
Junior guard Chrishauna Parker knows that her team needs to be relentless when getting back after shots.
“Our intensity needs to be there and we need to make it a team effort. We need everybody into it,” Parker said. “We need a team effort to beat them at their place.They have a good crowd. We need to get a feel for the road.”
The Miners will be back home on Dec. 7, when they host former Conference USA foes, the Southern Methodist Mustangs. SMU was the Conference USA regular season champion last season and have a 7-1 record.
The game against the Mustangs will mark the beginning of a much stiffer schedule for the Miners. Both teams have played and defeated Kansas State this season, SMU with an 11-point margin compared to UTEP’s 45-point win over the Wildcats.
Luis Barrio may be reached at [email protected].
