Western Kentucky’s women’s basketball team led for much of the game behind a career-high-tying 31 points from Ivy Brown, but a fourth-quarter comeback by Texas-El Paso dealt the Lady Toppers an 80-75 loss in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

The Lady Toppers (21-8 overall, 12-4 Conference USA) led for much of the first half and into the third quarter, but the Miners (16-13, 7-9 C-USA) held a 53-45 advantage over the final 20 minutes of play to come away with the win and deny WKU a regular-season championship.

Ivy Brown matched her career high with 31 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Brown matched the program record with 16 points in the third quarter and had 22 points in the second half. Tashia Brown added 19 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Toppers, and Whitney Creech tallied a career-best nine assists.

Tamara Seda (21 points), Jordan Alexander (19) and Zuzanna Puc (19) each reached double figures for the Miners, who shot 57.7 percent (30-of-52) from the field.

Neither side could gain more than a two-point advantage over the first six minutes until back-to-back baskets from Tashia and Ivy Brown pushed the WKU lead to 10-6 at the 3:19 mark of the opening quarter. UTEP rallied to score seven of the next nine points, but a long jumper just inside the arc from Tashia Brown restored a 14-13 WKU lead after the opening 10 minutes.

WKU’s lead stretched to as many as seven points midway through the second quarter following Ivy Brown’s 3-pointer with 3:16 on the clock. UTEP rallied back over the final three minutes before halftime as Puc scored the final four points of the quarter to cut the Lady Tops’ advantage to 30-27 at the break.

UTEP briefly took the lead by scoring the first four points of the third quarter, but Ivy Brown knocked down yet another 3-pointer to put the Lady Toppers back in front with 7:12 to play in the frame, and two free throws by Brown just over one minute later pushed the lead to 42-37.

The Lady Toppers maintained their edge until the waning seconds of the quarter, when a 7-2 UTEP run gave the Miners their first lead of the second half 51-50 heading into the final 10 minutes of action.

Tashia Brown knocked down back-to-back layups and a jumper from Creech pulled the Lady Toppers even at 66 with 4:29 remaining. UTEP converted five free throws in the final minute of play to fend off a late WKU charge, dealing the Lady Toppers the loss.

WKU will be the No. 2 seed in next week’s C-USA Tournament hosted at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. The Lady Toppers will open play Thursday at 1:30 p.m. (CT) against the winner of Wednesday’s No. 7-No. 10 matchup.{&end}