UTEP women crank up offense, open CUSA with win against Delaware

The UTEP women will win games this year with their gritty defense and that played a role, particularly in the second half, in an 82-71 victory over Delaware to open CUSA play.

What played a bigger role was an offense that at times was pretty and at times put points on the boards in flurries.

Ndack Mbengue scored 19 of her 26 points in the first half to go with 12 rebounds, Ivanne Tensaie scored 14 of her 20 in the second half, UTEP won the third quarter 25-16 and got the start to league play.

More: CUSA women's basketball standings

For the game, the Miners shot 50% and held Delaware to 43% shooting while forcing 21 turnovers. In the second half Delaware shot 31% as UTEP broke away from a 43-42 halftime lead to win somewhat comfortably.

UTEP opened the second half by scoring 13 points on their first six possessions, and eventually turned that into a half-opening 25-8 run that gave them a 15-point lead they saw home without much difficult.

Miners up 1 at half

Both teams scored points in quick spurts in a back-and-forth first half, as UTEP took a 43-42 lead to the locker room after the seventh lead change. Mbengue led the Miners with 19 first-half points and six rebounds.

Delaware bolted to a 29-19 lead, then UTEP went on a 10-0 run where they scored the first eight of those points in 1:05. The Miners worked the lead to 36-31 before Delaware scored the next six points in 37 seconds to go back in front.

The Blue Hens shot 57% in the first half to UTEP's 51.6%, though the Miners did force 13 turnovers, including a string of them with its press when it made the quick comeback.

Up next

UTEP hosts Liberty Sunday at noon in the Don Haskins Center. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at [email protected]; @Bretbloomquist on X.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP women open up offense, run past Delaware to open CUSA