3  Kelli Willingham Class: Junior Hometown: DeSoto, Texas High School: DeSoto HS Height: 5-6 Position: PG Experience: 2L

MINER NOTE: 2012 C-USA All-Academic Team; Two-Time Recipient of C-USA Academic Medal (2011 & 2012); First at UTEP for career free-throw percentage with min. 100 made (81.1); Eighth for assists (218), and three pointers (93).

2011-12 (SOPHOMORE): Paced team in minutes (26.7) three-pointers made (55), attempted (135) and percentage (40.7-min 10 3PM) while ranking second in assists (2.7), free-throw percentage (80.4) and third in scoring (7.9) ... among Conference USA leaders for three-point percentage (second), assists (14th) and scoring (30th) ... voted to C-USA All-Academic team ... recorded 10 double-digit scoring contests, including tallying 18 points against Denver (11/26/11) and at Loyola Marymount (12/17/11) ... started final 31 games of the year and 32 overall ... connected on at least three triples in nine tilts ... nailed seven free throws, including six in final two minutes, to help ice the game against UAB in the C-USA Semifinal (3/9/12) ... dished out a campaign-best nine assists while chipping in eight points in a win against Northern Colorado (12/13/11) ... had only one turnover in the game and made two or fewer 24 times ... recipient of the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal (min. 3.75 GPA). 2010-11 (FRESHMAN): Thrust into major role after injuries depleted the Miners at the point-guard position, but handled it extremely well ... earned placement on the five-member Conference USA All-Freshman team ... voted the C-USA Freshman of the Week (11/29/10) ... she was one of two players to rate in the top five of the C-USA freshmen stats for assists (4.3), ppg (9.0) and steals per game (1.3) ... overall she was sixth in the conference in apg and assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.3) ... paced the Miners in assists and total steals (38) while ranking second on the team in minutes per game (33.1) and three-pointers made (38) ... also grabbed 2.8 rpg ... only Miner to post an assist in every game of the season and had a team-high 10 games with six or more helpers ... she tallied seven-plus points in 15 of the final 19 games, more than doubling her effort of such contests (six) to start the year ... poured in a career-high 23 points in the win against Idaho State (11/26) ... registered double-double against CS-Northridge (12/3), with 12 points and 11 assists ... the 11 helpers were the fifth most in program history ... had only one turnover in the tilt, marking the most assists with only one giveaway ever at UTEP ... recipient of Conference USA Academic Medal (min. 3.75 GPA).

PRIOR TO UTEP: Four-year starter for head coach Larry Goad at powerhouse program DeSoto High School ... ranked as the No. 87 guard nationally by HoopGurlz ... team was a combined 129-21, including the 39-2 mark during her sophomore campaign when squad was state runner-up ... earned first-team all-state honors as both a junior and senior ... contributed 13.8 points per game, 4.3 assists per game, more than 2.0 steals per game and had an assist-to-turnover ratio of better than 3:1 during junior campaign ... was the three-point champion in the state for Class 5A players ... DHS rolled to a mark of 36-4 and was a regional finalist in her freshman year ... it followed that up with the aforementioned 39-2 season before going 27-8 in her junior year ... last season she aided the team to a mark of 27-7 ... also a big contributor off the court, evidenced by her serving as a mentor four days a week.

strong>PERSONAL: Daughter of Kenneth and Kimberly Willingham ... has one brother ... majoring in kinesiology ... lists Steve Nash as her favorite player ... enjoys hanging out with friends and family and her free time ... born 4/14/92 (Dallas, Texas).