Strong First Half Propels Miners to Win over NAU

The UTEP Miners Women’s Basketball team beat the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 72-62 Saturday night at the Don Haskins Center thanks to the strong first half the team had.

The Miners came out on fire and never trailed in the game. By the end of the first period the Miners had a nine point lead and at halftime they had a 20 point lead.

In the second half Lumberjacks made a run and they actually outscored the Miners in the second half but Miner defense buckled down in the last three minutes of the game and the Miners offense scored the points that would secure them their 4th straight win of the year.

UTEP also out rebounded the Lumberjacks 42-31 and they forced NAU to commit 19 turnovers.

The Miners had four players in double figures as Katia Gallegos lead the team with 19 points, Avery Crouse had 13, Destiny Thurman scored 12 and Teal Battle had 10 points.

Up next for the Miners is their first road trip of the season as they will play in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout taking place in Las Vegas. On Friday they face Seattle and on Saturday they will play Kansas.