BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- It is the loneliest spot in the gym.

Fifteen feet ... fifteen feet from glory or despair, fifteen feet from victory or defeat ... that place where basketball dreams go to live and die.

UTEP has put together a magical season. Coach Keitha Adams and her staff and a group of young women won a conference championship, pieced together a spectacular 25-3 record and have carved a place where they carry even bigger dreams.

On a March Thursday in Alabama, these young women stepped into that lonely place — victory there for the taking, defeat lurking like a monster in a horror movie. They stepped to that place, the free-throw line, and they claimed victory, claimed the right to play for more ... much more.

The Miners got the worst of draws for the Conference USA tournament. They drew UAB,the home team, a team that has played better and better, a team with seniors who are playing to keep their basketball careers alive.

And the Miners survived. And now they advance.

But, oh my goodness, it was never, never easy. It took a clutch rebound from Crishauna Parker. It took some clutch 3-pointers from Starr Breedlove and Lulu McKinney. It took a visit to that most lonely of places by Jenzel Nash and McKinney and Parker. And, in the end, when overtime was evaporating, it took a kiss from the basketball gods.

But it was a win. And, in March, there is only winning and heartbreak ... win or watch dreams fizzle. The record books will forever show that UTEP won this game 62-59 in overtime. But record books will never show the sheer drama that unfolded in Bartow Arena on this Thursday.

"I'm 10 years older," a breathless Adams said after all that drama.

The drama, of course, was a constant companion in this 45-minute overtime duel. UTEP played its traditional, fierce man-to-man defense and played it well. UAB ran a 2-3 zone and ran it well. The Blazers kept the Miners out of the paint, forced them to rely on the perimeter and the Miners were only 6-for-26 from beyond the arc this day.

By the fourth quarter, the Miners had foul problems ... serious foul problems. Breedlove, Nash and Cameasha Turner all had four.Turner would eventually foul out.

They slipped into overtime and UAB quickly got a four-point lead. But Breedlove buried a three-ball and then McKinney buried one of her own and, presto, the Miners traveled from a 54-50 deficit to a 56-54 lead.

And then, as almost every close game does, it funneled down to that lonely place ... the free-throw line.

It was 56-all when it began. Nash missed one, made one with 50 seconds left. and the Miners led 57-56. Then, with 24 seconds left, Nash stepped back to that lonely place, that free-throw line and went swish, swish, giving UTEP a 59-56 lead. With 22 seconds left, McKinney stepped to the lonely spot and calmly buried both tries and UTEP was up 61-57.

UAB answered with a bucket and the Miners came down one final time. They got a good look, missed and Parker got the rebound of the day, racing along the baseline, coming out with the ball and getting fouled with three seconds left. She stepped to that lonely line, made one, missed one and the Miners led 62-59.

And then came that kiss from the basketball gods.

UAB's Chelsee Black, who was brilliant all day, heaved a running one-hander as time expired and it banked cleanly through the net ... seeming to tie this one at 62 and seeming to send it into one more overtime.

What was Adams thinking as the referees studied the replay?

"I took a cup of ice and put it on the back of my neck," she said."Then, I was gathering our starters for the next overtime."

But, after the officials studied the replay, the basketball gods swooped down and smooched the Miners. The shot was a split-second late.

And the Miners survived. And now they advance.

They did it by playing intense defense. They did it by making some clutch shots. They did it by Parker getting a clutch rebound. And,most of all, they did it by visiting that loneliest place in the gym and making it victory, not defeat ... making it joy and not heartbreak.

It is the loneliest place in the gym. And it awaits you. And the Miners stepped up and made it their place.
