EL PASO — It came down to the wire at the Don Haskins Center Saturday evening but the Roadrunners managed to pull together and walk away with the 55-53 victory at UTEP.
Three Roadrunners scored in double figures with Niaga Mitchell-Cole scoring 13 points off the bench in her return. Mitchell-Cole missed the last nine games after sitting out with injury, but came back better than ever by adding six rebounds and a career-best three blocks.
Meanwhile, Kamra King added 11 points and Mathilde Hergott 10.
After a slow start in the opening 20 minutes, UTSA (7-10, 2-3 C-USA) came back from a 10-point deficit, trailing 24-14.
Tesha Smith then ignited the Roadrunners’ 10-2 run to end the half at the 3:20 mark on a driving layup. The Roadrunners headed to the locker room trailing by two, 26-24, as neither team sank a 3-pointer during the first 20 minutes of regulation.
UTEP’s four-point lead to start the second half was the most the Miners (8-6, 3-2 C-USA) led by as the second 20 minutes featured six ties in the back-and-forth battle.
Seven lead changes in the final five minutes of play drew the crowd to their feet and after UTEP took a one-point lead, 53-52, on a layup by Cameasha Turner, the Roadrunners responded back with 28.1 seconds and took a 54-53 lead on a put-back by Mannasha Bell.
Bell was fouled with four seconds on the clock and sank the second free throw to give UTSA a 55-53 lead and the win.
Turner led the Miners with 13 points and Taylor Sparkle added 10.
The Roadrunners will return to the friendly confines of the Convocation Center next weekend for a pair of games. They will welcome Marshall on Thursday, Jan. 22, and Western Kentucky two days later.