In retrospect, there was bound to be an initial WNIT letdown from the UTEP women's basketball team after getting snubbed from the NCAA tournament. That followed some struggles at exactly the wrong time of the season.
Any notion, though, that the Miners had peaked five weeks ago were dispelled for good Monday night against Arkansas State during a hard-fought 74-68 second-round victory that marked their best game since winning at Western Kentucky on Feb. 6.
In any deep tournament run there comes a point where a team settles in and hits its stride. Whether or not UTEP is there yet will be revealed Thursday against TCU with a berth in the quarterfinals at stake, but now, more so than three days ago, the Miners look to be headed in the proper direction.