March 19, 2008

UTEP head women's basketball coach Keitha Adams has been named the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA) Region 4 Coach of the Year, and as result, is one of eight finalists for the organization's National Coach of the Year award.

The winners of the WBCA National Coach of the Year for each division will be honored on Monday, April 7, 2008, at 10 a.m. MST during the RUSSELL ATHLETIC/WBCA National Coach of the Year Luncheon presented by AstraZeneca in the Marriott Waterside's Grand Ballroom.  The luncheon is part of the 2008 WBCA National Convention, held in conjunction with the NCAA® Women's Final Four®.

Under Adams' guidance, the Miners (27-3) will be making their initial appearance at the NCAA tournament in school history. The 2008 Conference USA Coach of the Year, Adams' charges are a program-best 27-3.

UTEP claimed the 2008 Conference USA regular-season championship, and did so in historic fashion by posting an unprecedented 16-0 mark in league play. Those 16 triumphs were part of not only a school and C-USA record, but also at the time a nation-best 23 successive victories.

Adams, who ranks second all time at UTEP with 104 wins, has turned the program around. Prior to her arrival, the Miners had never competed in a postseason tournament, nor advanced beyond the league semifinals.

All of that has changed, though, as UTEP has rolled to a 49-11 record the past two years. Aiding that are the school-record 27 victories this season. Moreover, the Orange and Blue have been nationally ranked by the Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll for six straight weeks. Before this campaign, the Miners had only received a vote on one other occasion.

UTEP has posted back-to-back 20-victory seasons (22 in 2006-07 and 27 this year), trouncing the previous school standard of 18 which was set back during the 1992-93 campaign.

Adams and the Miners will be in action on Saturday, taking on Western Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Stanford, Calif. The tip is tentatively slated for 9 p.m. MST, and the game will be broadcast locally in El Paso on 92.3 FM. It will also be carried by ESPN2.

Below are the RUSSELL ATHLETIC/WBCA Regional Coaches of the Year winners listed by region:

NCAA Division I