Miners Mania

Senior post shines both on and off the court

If a basketball player was nothing more than numbers in a box score, Claudia Porras' contributions to the No. 19 UTEP women's basketball team would be easy to dismiss.

The team's second post off the bench, she averages 13 minutes, 3.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, which doesn't begin to explain what she means to a Miners team on the verge of a Conference USA title.

What the 6-foot-1 senior from Bolivia does is show up every day with a smile, accept her role, perform when called upon and generally add to the chemistry for a team that thrives on that.

"She has a great attitude, a great work ethic," UTEP coach Keitha Adams said. "She's a good student; she's a real joy to have in the program.

"She's a great role player whose helped us coming off the bench, and she's very willing to do that. She understands the whole team concept. She's been good for us, on the court and off."

Speaking of off-court skills, Porras did some modeling a few years ago in Bolivia, and some of her photos were published.

She gained notoriety not only for her play on the country's national team, but also for the modeling. The combination allowed her to be a positive role model for other young women, which is something she enjoyed.

She also has enjoyed UTEP and El Paso.

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"Coming here was one of the best decisions in my life," said Porras, who transferred in last year as a junior after catching the coaching staff's eye as a member of the Bolivian national team. "I'm so happy to be here. I feel at home."

While her numbers aren't huge, Porras' on-the-court contributions shouldn't be underestimated. In the past homestand, she had 10 rebounds against Houston, then made several key plays down the stretch two nights later when Rice tried to make the game interesting late.

With a 19-point lead trimmed to nine with just less than three minutes to play, Porras hauled in a rebound of a missed 3-pointer, than got an offensive rebounds on the other end. She was fouled on the putback and made both free throws, basically turning back Rice's final charge.

"I'm aggressive. I like to play in the paint, and I don't like to shoot outside," said Porras, who unofficially leads the team in most arc put on free throws. "I like to play defense and get rebounds."

Like the other international players, she made a smooth transition to UTEP, though unlike the Europeans, she didn't speak much English when she arrived last season.

That was somewhat mitigated by the fact that so many people in El Paso speak her native Spanish, but not speaking English made her first weeks in school a bit more interesting.

"All I could say was basic things: 'Hi, how are you?' " Porras said. "I met a lot of good people at school who helped me. That first three weeks I couldn't understand a thing. I took a dictionary to every class.

"I got used to working harder than normal. I got good grades anyway. I've always made good grades."

Culturally, the adjustment was not as big.

"That wasn't a big change," Porras said. "There are a lot of Latino people here, there are a lot of Catholics. It wasn't a big change."

The culture that has changed is that which surrounds the women's basketball program. When Porras first got here, UTEP was coming off its seventh losing season in eight years. Porras' teams have gone 43-10 since, the best 53-game stretch in Miner history.

Now she's hoping for more.

"We're just focused on the next game, the next game, the next game," Porras said. "We're having a great season. We have great starters, and we have bench people stepping up every game.

"We're playing to make history this year."

Bret Bloomquist may be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; 546-6359.

Porras file

Name: Claudia Porras.

Position: Post.

Class: Senior.

Size: 6-foot-1.

Hometown: Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Previous school: Universidad NUR.

Notes: Played for the Bolivian national team and was a two-time Player of the Year (2000, 2001).