UTEP down NMSU 81-72 in 96th Battle of I-10
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- UTEP and NMSU opened Conference USA play on Saturday in the 96th Battle of I-10 and the first league clash between the two teams since 1979. The Miners won Round 1 81-72, with four UTEP players scoring in double figures. It is UTEP's ninth-straight win over NMSU.
The Miners (6-8, 1-0 CUSA) put up 26 points in the second quarter to open a comfortable lead (44-30) against the Aggies (6-8, 0-1 CUSA) going into the halftime break. Ivane Tensaie drained three shots from beyond the arc in the period and capped the night with one more for a career-high 12 points.
Jane Asinde poured in 19 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks to lead the Miners’ efforts. Erin Wilson scored 14 points and Adhel Tac had 12. Both Wilson and Tac had six rebounds, with all of Tac’s coming on the defensive glass.
Mahri Petree and Aaliyah Stanton both put in solid shifts for UTEP, scoring nine and eight points, respectively. Delma Zita served up a team-high six assists with Tac adding four.
The Miners shot 56.3 percent (27-48) from the field, 70.0 percent (7-10) from downtown, and 66.7 percent (20-30) from the charity stripe. They finished the contest with 37 rebounds, 17 assists, five steals, and two blocks.
“I thought that we played hard today. I have a lot of respect for this team and Coach (Jody) Adams, and we knew this team was going to play extremely hard,” Head Coach Keitha Adams said. “We had four players in double figures and 17 assists. I thought we played some really good team basketball today.”
The two squads were trading buckets to start the contest, and there were four ties in the first quarter. UTEP managed to give themselves a four-point cushion and led 18-14 at the end of the period. Wilson paced the Miners with six points and three rebounds, with Asinde following close behind with five points and four boards.
The Miners got hot in the second period, thanks in part to five made threes, and led 44-30 going into the locker room. Petree and Tensaie topped the team in points with nine apiece, followed by Wilson with eight. Wilson also had a team-high five rebounds at the half.
The Orange and Blue shot 50.0 percent (12-24) from the floor in the first half, including 83.3 (6-7) from beyond the arc. The Miners hit 73.7 percent (14-19) from the foul line. They pulled down 17 rebounds, had five assists, three steals, and one block.
UTEP did not let off the gas after the break, increasing its lead to 18, 63-45, at the end of the third. Three Miners shared the lead in points with Wilson, Tensaie, and Tac having 12 points each. Asinde led the team with eight rebounds, while Zita paced the Miners with four assists.
NM State got as close as eight down the stretch of the fourth quarter but couldn’t close the gap, and the game went in favor of UTEP, 81-72.
The Aggies shot 42.4 percent (25-59) from the field, 32.0 percent (8-25) from three, and 73.7 percent (14-19) from the line. They tallied 25 rebounds, 17 assists, 11 steals, and one block. Jaila Harding set the tone for NM State, scoring a game-high 22 points. She hit five three-pointers. Molly Kaiser and Sabou Gueye also scored in double digits for the visitors with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Ene Adams pulled down a team-high five boards and Sianny Sanchez-Oliver dished out eight assists.
Both NMSU and UTEP will host FIU on Thursday at 6 p.m. MT and Saturday at 12:30 p.m. MT, respectively. They will play round two on Feb. 10th at the Pan American Center.
