El Paso is 1-6 against Riverside since December of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The El Paso Tigers are on the road again and play against the Riverside Rangers at 7:30 p.m. on December 5th. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Saturday, El Paso made easy work of Irvin and carried off a 42-17 win. Given El Paso's advantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 318th, while Irvin is ranked 1145th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Natalia Thomas and Amaris Ambriz were among the main playmakers for El Paso as the former scored 8 points along with 10 rebounds and 3 blocks and the latter scored 11 points along with 5 rebounds and 5 steals. Thomas has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last ten times she's played. Jasmine Torres was another key contributor, scoring 8 points along with 4 steals.
Meanwhile, Riverside entered their tilt with Young Women's STEAM Research & Preparatory Academy with five consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with six. Riverside claimed a resounding 87-15 win over Young Women's STEAM Research & Preparatory Academy on the road. The matchup was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 49-7.
Riverside's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Hazel Veloz led the charge by scoring 27 points along with 9 steals and 7 assists. The game was Veloz's sixth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Sophiya Bustillos, who scored 24 points along with 7 assists and 5 rebounds.
El Paso pushed their record up to 14-2 with that victory, which was their seventh straight on the road. As for Riverside, their win bumped their record up to 8-1.
Tuesday's match is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: El Paso have been dynamite from deep this season, having only made 35.1% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Riverside struggles in that department as they've drained 39.9% of theirs this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
El Paso took a serious blow against Riverside when the teams last played back in November of 2021, falling 51-21. Thankfully for El Paso, Lauren Naomi Perez (who scored 17 points along with 9 steals and 6 rebounds) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
