The UTEP women's basketball team hosted the 24th ranked Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in a game that was close throughout before WKU pulled away for a 80-74 victory.  The Miners committed a season-high 24 turnovers during the game, but stayed within striking distance of the Lady Hilltoppers by making a season-high tying 11 three-pointers.  UTEP's careless play and inability to make some easy shots overshadowed the fact that they shot a better percentage than WKU and outrebounded them as well.

Offensively the Miners spread the ball around well with Cameasha Turner leading all scorers with 16 points, Lulu McKinney added 16, and Anete Kirsteine contributed with 15 points.  Turner also set a career high with 5 assists.   The game was a defensive battle in the first half with both teams struggling to find their offensive efficiency.  Western Kentucky held a narrow 32-30 lead at the half and they took advantage of the Miners' miscues in the second half to secure the victory.

At one point UTEP was able to pull within one point of the Lady Hilltoppers, but they simply couldn't take the lead and seal the deal.  Western Kentucky's Micah Jones scored 22 points, Chastity Gooch tallied 19, Tashia Brown 17, and Alexis Govan added 10.  The loss for the Miners marked the first time in four years that the team has been beaten in back- to- back games at home.  WKU has now won 14 straight games.

Following the game Coach Adams was asked about her team's performance and she mentioned, "I'm very proud of our team, we hate losing and need to remember that.  We have to build off of this effort and learn from it."

One thing that the Miners did learn from this game is that they have a tremendous amount of heart and determination, if they can limit turnovers and play a more concrete game, they can hang with anyone in C-USA or in the nation.

The Miners are now 8-7, 3-3 in C-USA play and will attempt to regroup as they host Marshall at 2 p.m. on Saturday before going on the road next week to face UAB and Middle Tennessee.

loading...

More From 600 ESPN El Paso