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2017 C-USA Women's Basketball Tournament: UTEP vs. Old Dominion How To Watch and Listen

By Alex Nicolas

Tip off Info

UTEP Miners (8-22) vs Old Dominion Monarchs (16-13)

Bartow Arena, Birmingham, Alabama

8:00 p.m. Mountain Time

NO TV

Streaming: Campus Insiders (Curt Bloom/Holly Berry)

Radio: 600 ESPN El Paso 600 AM in El Paso, or KROD.com, (Steve Kaplowitz/Traci Miller)

INSIDE THE SERIES (ODU LEADS, 4-2 OVERALL; ODU LEADS 2-0 IN NEUTRAL)

  • Old Dominion leads the series, 4-2, including the recent 87-68 home victory on March 2.
  • Last year UTEP won the regular-season match-up (70-64, 2/25/16) but the Lady Monarchs avenged the setback in a 66-54 conquest in the semifinals of the 2016 C-USA Championships.

GETTING TO KNOW OLD DOMINION

Overall: 16-13 Home: 10-5, Road 6-6 Neutral 0-2

C-USA: 11-7 Home: 5-4 Road 6-3

  • Old Dominion is one of eight programs (through the end of 2015-16 season) with at least 1,000 wins.
  • Made 25 NCAA Tournament appearances (most recent ‘07-08), including winning it all in 1985. Has a total of three national championships and produced 54 All-Americans.
  • Returned all five starters from last year’s team (17-17, 10-8 C-USA).
  • ODU went 5-6 in non-conference play, which was hurt by an 0-3 road record but it bounced back to forge an impressive 6-3 mark in its nine conference contests.
  • ODU paces the league in rebounds/game (41.4), rebound margin (+7.2) and total rebounds (1202). It is also third in field-goal percentage (44.5) and 3-point field-goal percentage (34.6), fourth in total blocked shots (115), blocks/game (4.0), field-goal percentage defense (40.3), sixth in assists/game (14.8) and scoring offense (70.6) and seventh in total assists (428) and free-throw percentage (69.6)
  • ODU has top-100 NCAA team rankings several categories: it is 21st in rebound margin, 35th in field-goal percentage, 42nd in rebounds/game, 57th in 3-point field-goal percentage, 74th in scoring offense and 86th in assists/game, 90th in blocked shots/game and 96th in total blocked shots.
  • Led by 6-0 redshirt-senior guard and 2017 Conference USA Player of the Year Jennie Simms. She is sixth all time at ODU (2,089) for scoring. She needs 24 points to move into fifth place at the school.
  • Simms is the nation’s second-leading scorer (25.7 points/game). She also paces C-USA and is among the NCAA’s leaders for field-goals made (255-fourth) and attempts (536-ninth), free throws made (176-sixth). Simms’s 226 free-throw attempts is second in the league and ninth nationally. Simms is also fifth in C-USA for minutes/game (36.1), sixth in rebounds/game (8.0) and eighth in assists/game (4.3).
  • Simms is one of two players nationally (Tori Jankoska, Michigan State) to account for account for 20+ points/game, 8+ rebounds/game and 4+ assists/game this season.
  • Simms has recorded 30+ points 11 times, including two games with 40 or more. Her season-high of 43 points against Marshall (ODU W, 77-69, 1/5/17) is a Ted Constant Center women’s record and is the highest single-game scoring total in the conference this season.
  • 2017 All-Conference USA second team honoree and All-Defensive Team member Destinee Young provides a perfect complement to Simms. She is first in C-USA and among the national leaders for rebounds/game (10.9-ninth), offensive rebounds/game (4.0-15th), total rebounds (316-16th), double-doubles (15-18th) and defensive blocks/game (7.0-28th).
  • Young is also fourth in C-USA and 96th nationally for blocks/game (1.6).

GETTING TO KNOW THE 2016-17 MINERS

  • Eight of the 12 student-athletes on the Miners’ roster are in their first year of playing games at the division I level. There are six true freshmen (Faith Cook, Jakeira Ford, Roeshonda Patterson, Zuzanna Puc, Rachel Tapps and Katarina Zec), one redshirt-freshman (Jessica Barbosa- practiced with team last year) and one junior-college transfer (Ax Bernard).
  • There are four returnees (senior Sparkle Taylor, juniors Lulu McKinney and Tamara Seda and sophomore Najala Howell). McKinney, Seda and Taylor all start after mainly coming off bench last year.
  • UTEP has more newcomers (seven) than returnees (four) on the roster for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign when it also had that ratio. That year was also the last time UTEP seven freshmen.
  • The Miners lost nine letter winners, including all five starters from last year’s team (29-5, 16-2 C-USA regular-season champion, advanced to quarterfinals of the WNIT).
  • UTEP has a veteran coaching staff that has great chemistry from working together at the school; it is in form of head coach Keitha Adams (16th year), associate head coach Ewa Laskowska (16th year) and assistant coaches Bill Damuth (seventh year) and Kelli Willingham Bagley (second year).