The Miners played the last home game of the season against Southern Mississippi on senior night at the Don Haskins Center. UTEP rallied late but could not complete the comeback in a hard fought game which they lost 66-60.
“We had our opportunities, we just didn’t convert,” said head coach Keitha Adams. “We had some plays that we just didn’t convert.”
The game was as close as it could be. Between The Miners and the Golden Eagles, there were four lead changes in the first half and an offensive turn over ratio of eight and seven.
The Miners only held an advantage with free throws, where the Miners went eight for eight from the line for the first half of the game. Southern Mississippi’s led the Miners in field goals where they shot for 48% that first half.
UTEP and Southern Miss were tied during the first half in most things including fast break points and three point percentage.
UTEP had a five-point lead going into the last minutes of the half, but Southern Miss rallied to bring the game within two points. The Miners ended the half 37-35 against the third ranked team in the conference.
The Miners did not play as well in the second half as they did in the first. UTEP did not reach 30% shooting from the field. They came out flat in the second half and went 2-16 from three-point land in the second half—9-34 in the game.
The Miners were able to keep Southern Mississippi within a few points through out the whole game but they did not make enough shots to win it.
UTEP is now 6-10 in Conference USA. The Miners’ regular season will end on the road, after which they will look to find success in the conference tournament.
Today’s game against the third ranked Southern Mississippi was the final home game for three Miners—senior guards Stacie Telles and Marissa Rodriguez and graduating junior forward Irene Gari
Rodriguez who played high school in San Antonio is very much considered an El Paso native since she spent part of her early childhood here in the Sun City. She also played for coach Adams when she was eight in a summer camp.
“The fans, little kids looking up to me, growing up in El Paso I want to be that inspiration,” Rodriguez said. “We don’t have a lot of El Pasoans here, (so I) try to be the motivation for them because they love El Paso and they love UTEP.”
Juan Carlos Navarrete may be reached at [email protected].
