Marta Dydek opened Saturday's game by scoring the first 11 points and Shalana Taylor finished the game with a triple-double as UTEP defeated Hawaii, 71-50, in its final home game of the season at the Don Haskins Center.
Taylor finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists while leading the Miners to just their second win in 16 meetings against Hawaii. The triple-double is the first in school history for either the men or women.
Dydek's game-high 22 points, nine rebounds and five blocks came on the heels of a career-high 26 points against San Jose State two days ago.
UTEP (11-14, 6-9 WAC) shot just 40 percent but grabbed 54 rebounds and added 14 second chance points off of 15 offensive boards.
The Miners held Hawaii (10-11, 6-8 WAC) to a season-low 25.4 percent from the field.
After a Dydek jumper with 14:14 to play in the first gave UTEP a 11-8 lead, the teams traded buckets for much of the remainder of the half. UTEP led by as many as eight on two occasions and took a 31-25 lead into the locker room.
Dydek had 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting and three deflections at the break. The Miners held a 31-19 edge in rebounding, including 12 on the offensive end. UTEP had one possession at the midway point of the half where it had four offensive rebounds.
After a Amy Sanders 3-pointer trimmed the UTEP lead to 37-35 with 16:59 to play, the Miners went on a 9-0 run which included five points from Taylor and four from Charnette Phelps. Phelps finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for her six double-double of the year.
The lead stayed around 10 points for the next five minutes before UTEP made another run. Angie McGee made two free throws, Izabela Piekarska scored four and Dydek two as the Miners led 59-41 with just over six minutes remaining.
Sophomore Jillian Robbins scored 22 of her school single-game record 38 points in the second half and added 13 rebounds in Tulsa's to a 62-57 come-from-behind victory over Nevada in front of 1,160 at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Robbins' shattered several single-game records in leading Tulsa (16-8, 8-6 WAC) back from a 14-point deficit in the second half. Her 22 points in the second period marked the most points scored in one half by a TU player and she tied the single game record for field goals made with 13. Her 38 points is the most by a Western Athletic Conference player this season and was the fifth-best effort in the nation in 2004-05.
Tulsa began the week in sixth place in the WAC standings, but moved up to a three-way tie with SMU and San Jose State for third place with today's win. The Hurricane also tied the school's single season record for victories at home with 10. TU also won 10 games at home last season.
The Golden Hurricane trailed Nevada (7-18, 3-12 WAC) from the opening tip. The Wolf Pack never led by more than eight points in the first half, but built a 14-point lead in the second half. TU trailed 51-42 when Meghan McGuire drained a three-pointer with 9:34 remaining in the game.
Tulsa chipped away, but Nevada took its lead into the final three minutes of the contest, and led by four points when Talisha Anderson broke free for a lay-up and gave the Wolf Pack a 55-51 advantage. However, the Hurricane rallied in the final minutes and pinned its hopes of winning the game on Robbins' hot hand. Tulsa's defense stymied the Nevada offense and did not allow a field goal for the final 3:17 of the game. TU players continued to get the ball inside to Robbins and she came through with eight straight points in the final two minutes.
Junior Megan Moody brought Tulsa to within two points, 55-53, with 1:57 remaining, and sophomore Jen Ormsby, who played a career-high 20 minutes, connected on 1-of-2 free throw attempts that pulled the Hurricane to within a single point. On the ensuing possession, Nevada missed a lay-up and TU fed the ball inside to Robbins, and she wheeled around in the lane and banked in a shot despite being fouled. Robbins' bucket gave TU its first lead of the game with one minute remaining. She converted the free throw for a three-point play and extended TU's lead to two points.
Ormsby was called for a foul on the defensive end and McGuire drained both free throws to tie the game. However, this game belonged to Robbins, as she grabbed her own miss and stuck it back in, and was fouled once more. She hit the free throw and TU led by three points with 0:33 showing on the clock. On Nevada's next possession, Anderson's three-pointer came up short and Robbins snared the rebound and was immediately fouled. She calmly sank both free throws to cap off her 38-point performance.