The UTEP Miners(17-8,13-5) had its NCAA tournament aspirations crushed Friday night with a loss to the top-seeded Middle Tennessee State (MTSU) Blue Raiders (16-7, 12-4) 74-58.
Facing the preseason conference favorite Blue Raiders, the Miners had hoped to pull an upset and advance to the conference finals with an NCAA bid on the line. UTEP was predicted to finish sixth in the conference but exceeded expectations and finished in the top four of the conference.
UTEP’s prospects for beating MTSU were promising early as the Miners scored the first four points of the game off back-to-back jumpers by junior Destiny Thurman and sophomore Katia Gallegos.