Victor Calzada / El Paso Times
The games that the UTEP women's basketball team's season hinge on are both right behind them and a week away.
The Conference USA tournament in Birmingham is next week, the games that got them there were last week against the two Florida schools.
What's immediately ahead of the Miners, Thursday at Old Dominion, is a Monarchs team desperately fighting for a first-round bye in the C-USA tourney, with the league's leading and the nation's second-leading scorer in Jennie Simms (25.3 points per game).