Box Score

Post-Game Interview with Mary Gleason (video)

EL PASO, Texas - Freshman Shanice Steenholdt scored in double figures for the third time in four games and earned her first double-double in 18 points and 14 rebounds. Houston Baptist made a valiant comeback late in the second half, but the Huskies fell at UTEP, 82-53, Saturday evening from the Don Haskins Center.

Steenholdt tied for the game high with 18 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, 12 of those points coming in the second half for HBU (0-4). She also blocked two shots and had one steal. Devyn Weymouth finished with 16 points, going 10-of-12 from the charity stripe. She also grabbed seven rebounds. Weymouth has now grabbed 14 rebounds in the last two games. Tayler Jefferson scored a career-high six points, as she was a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.

Jenzel Nash came off the bench to score 18 points for UTEP (3-0), 15 of those coming in the second half. Kayla Thornton recorded a double-double for the Miners, scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Kelli Willinghman scored nine points, as she was 50 percent (3-of-6) from three-point land.

HBU scored the game's opening basket on a layup by Steenholdt 21 seconds in, but the Miners hit three 3-pointers on their first three possessions to take a quick 9-2 lead with 16:24 remaining in the first half.

UTEP increased its lead to 11-2 on two free throws by Kim Smith before Weymouth's bucket cut the deficit to seven, 11-4, with 15:12 left.

UTEP proceeded to go on a 10-2 run in a span of five minutes to lead the Huskies, 21-6. Four made free throws and jumpers by Gloria Brown and Briana Green forced the Huskies to take a timeout at the 10:28-mark of the first half.

After the timeout, the Huskies rattled off four-straight points and forced two turnovers, trailing UTEP, 21-10 with 9:12 remaining, before the Miners stole the ball on the Huskies' ensuing possession and it resulted in a layup by Green, giving the hosts a 13-point lead, 23-10, with 8:27 remaining in the opening half.

A successful layup by Emily Jenkins brought the Huskies their closest of the night, at 12, 24-12, with eight minutes left, before UTEP went on a run, outscoring the Huskies 19-5 in the final eight minutes, as UTEP led HBU, 43-17, at halftime. The Huskies had six turnovers and Ryan Lacy hit a three in the waning seconds during that span.

Keys to the first half were points in the paint (UTEP led 20-8), second-chance points (UTEP led 20-2) and fouls, where HBU had seven fouls to UTEP's two, resulting in the Miners going 7-for-10 at the foul line, compared to HBU's 0-2. The short-manned Huskies were also in foul trouble at the half, with five of the eight players having at least one foul and two players with two.

Joselyn Pugh picked up her third foul of the game just 19 seconds into the second half, forcing the Huskies to go to their bench early. The Miners hit two free throws to start the scoring in the second half to lead the Huskies 45-17 before the Huskies answered with a layup by Weymouth at the 19:02-mark.

The ensuing drives by each team resulted in layups by Brown and Steenholdt, before UTEP went on a 17-3 run in a span of six minutes to lead HBU 64-24 with 11:02 remaining in the game.

The Huskies scored five points in under a minute, as Weymouth hit two free throws and Maisie Elston nailed a three to bring the Huskies to within 35, 64-29, with 10:48 left in the second half. The Huskies came to within 31 on four successful free throws by Weymouth and a layup by Steenholdt, before UTEP scored eight-straight points to lead the Huskies, 75-35, with 6:47 left.

After Nash's layup at the 4:08-mark gave the Miners their largest lead of the night, 82-39, the Huskies made a furious comeback, outscoring UTEP 14-0 in the final four minutes to bring the final score to 82-53. Steenholdt scored six points while Jefferson nailed a three in the Huskies' run.

The Huskies return to the friendly confines of Sharp Gym for a three-game homestand, beginning next Friday and Saturday, Nov. 25-26, as the Huskies welcome Texas Southern, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Vermont to the Husky Classic. HBU will face Vermont on the 25th at 7:30 pm and TAMU-Corpus Christi on the 26th at 5:30 pm.