WAIPAHU, Hawaii Rice scored two first-half goals to erase an early UTEP lead and eliminate the Miners from the WAC Tournament with a 2-1 victory at a rainy Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium Friday night.

UTEP falls to 13-5-1 while Rice advances to Saturday's championship game with a 14-3-3 record.

Freshman Cara Nordin gave the Miners a lead in the sixth minute when her shot from 13 yards got under Rice goalie Lauren Shockley in the lower left portion of the goal. It was Nordin's tenth goal of the season and her sixth in the last four games.

Rice knotted the score at 1-1 six minutes later on a header by Samantha Conn off a Becky MacAllister corner kick.

The Owls took the lead for good in the 23rd minute when MacAllister's header off a midfield pass from Erin Droeger went past a diving Brittany Popoff.

UTEP went on the offensive in a big way in the second half, outshooting Rice, 10-6, after being out-shot themselves 10-5 in the opening 45 minutes.

One of the Miners' best chances to tie the game came in the 76th minute when Nordin got behind the Rice defense and sent a left-footed shot on goal that hit the crossbar and bounced back into play. Nordin finished with a team-high eight shots, including two on goal.