The UTEP women's basketball team has been splendid this year. At 8-0, the Miners are one of 14 unbeatens still standing and they have a No. 10 ranking in the RPI.
This weekend, they can become something better still. They venture outside the El Paso-Las Cruces area for the first official time this year to play two good teams at the Long Beach Classic.
UTEP opens Friday against the 7-3 hosts from Long Beach State, a team that has beaten Houston and Colorado while losing to LSU and USC. They then turn around Saturday, 22 hours later, and play a 7-2 UNLV team that will be coming off a four-day break.