UTEP women's basketball: Roadrunners steal one from Miners in final seconds

In a game where there are 19 lead changes, and nine ties, someone usually has to make a string of plays down the stretch to pull out a win.

The UTSA women's basketball team did just that Saturday afternoon in the Don Haskins Center.

Mannasha Bell put back home an offensive rebound off a Kamra King miss for a bucket with 11.8 seconds left to put UTSA ahead 54-53, then after a UTEP turnover/questionable no call on a drive from Cameasha Turner during the ensuing possession, Bell split a one-and-one chance to put UTSA up 55-53 with four seconds left.

Lulu McKinney finished with seven points, three rebounds, and three assists, but missed a game winning try from three in the final seconds as UTEP dropped to 8-6 overall, and 3-2 in C-USA play with a 55-53 set back to UTSA.

UTSA was led by Niaga Mitchell-Cole who scored 13 points, Kamra King finished with 11 points, and Mathilde Hergott added 10 points as UTSA improved to 7-10 overall, and 2-3 in the conference.

The Miners were led by Cameasha Turner who also scored 13 points, Sparkle Taylor was the only other Miner in double figures with 10 points, though Irene Gari added 9 points, and 12 rebounds.

UTSA held a 12-10 lead with 10:56 left in the first half, then the Miners would go on a 10-0 run that covered nearly five minutes, and took a 20-12 lead after a layup from Turner at the 6:13 mark of the first half.

King would finish off a 16-6 UTSA run that started with under four minutes left in the first half with a three pointer that gave UTSA a 30-28 lead with 18:03 to go in the second half after the Miners took a 26-24 halftime lead.

Neither team would grow a lead larger than three in the second half, and UTEP grabbed a slim lead after Turner laid one in with 1:03 to play to give UTEP a 53-52 edge heading into the final minute.

But rebounding was again an issue as UTEP allowed 15 offensive rebounds, and lost the rebounding margin 42-39 on the afternoon.  UTSA also hit three of their first five three point attempts of the second half, after going 0/6 in the first twenty minutes.

Four UTSA players had six rebounds or more, led by Tesha Smith who hauled in 10 boards, and added eight points.

The Miners held UTSA to just 32.8 percent shooting from the field, but allowed 10 second chance points, and were outscored 21-10 by UTSA's bench.

UTSA's poise was a huge difference in the game, but as were their 22 free throw attempts, compared to just 10 for UTEP, the Miners were also 1/6 in their three point tries on the afternoon.

Its back to the practice floor for Keitha Adams' bunch, as they continue their home stand next week with Western Kentucky on Thursday, and Marshall on Saturday.