GAMEDAY Womens Basketball
Middle Tennessee 68, Texas-El Paso 62
(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Associated Press
FRISCO, Texas - Jalynn Gregory scored 22 points, Kseniya Malashka had 18 points and 14 rebounds and No. 25 Middle Tennessee beat fourth-seeded UTEP 68-62 to advance to the championship game of the Conference USA Tournament.
Middle Tennessee led for 37 minutes with UTEP's last lead at 48-47 after N’Yah Boyd scored the opening five points of the fourth quarter.
UTEP forward Elina Arike was left open for a 3-pointer to get within 61-59 but Courtney Whitson answered with a 3-pointer from the corner with 45.2 left. The Miners missed a quick 3-pointer on their next possession and Whitson made 1 of 2 free throws for a six-point lead.
UTEP missed another jumper and Savannah Wheeler made 1 of 2 free throws with 21.8 left. Arike sank a long 3-pointer with to get within four points, but Gregory added two free throws to seal it.
Whitson finished with 18 points for Middle Tennessee (27-4). Wheeler, who entered averaging 15.8 points per game with 28 points, finished with one point after going 0 for 7 from the field.
Malashka, the sixth player of the year, made five of her first eight shots for 12 points as Middle Tennessee build a 25-14 lead. UTEP had just four field goals with seven minutes left in the half, but Boyd converted a three-point play to start a half-closing 13-3 run to get within 32-27.
Arike finished with 23 points and Boyd scored 18 for UTEP (20-11).
March 10, 2023
| UTEP | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| E. Arike | F | 37 | 5-11 | 10-10 | 3-6 | 0-6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 23 |
| A. Tac | F | 14 | 1-4 | 6-7 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| N. Boyd | G | 40 | 7-13 | 4-6 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 18 |
| A. Crouse | G | 37 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| J. Jackson | G | 30 | 2-8 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 0-5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| E. Wilson | 17 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| S. Lipe | 15 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| S. Montrose | 8 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| A. Valkova | 2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Totals | 200 | 18-49 (.367) |
23-26 (.885) |
3-14 (.214) |
7-30 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 21 | 62 | |
| Middle Tennessee | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| C. Whitson | F | 36 | 6-12 | 1-2 | 5-11 | 1-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 18 |
| A. Boldyreva | C | 8 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| J. Gregory | G | 40 | 6-15 | 7-9 | 3-12 | 4-7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 22 |
| A. Whittington | G | 40 | 1-6 | 1-1 | 0-4 | 2-6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| S. Wheeler | G | 21 | 0-7 | 1-2 | 0-5 | 0-4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| K. Malashka | 33 | 8-15 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 6-14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 18 | |
| C. Blakely | 21 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |
| J. Grannum | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 200 | 23-59 (.390) |
14-19 (.737) |
8-33 (.242) |
16-43 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 25 | 68 | |
Officials: Brian Garland, Carla Fountain, Bill Larance