Five games into the season, the UTEP women’s basketball has one attribute they’ve become quite good at: the Miners win.
So it was in a 69-52 Haskins Center victory against Denver where UTEP scored the first 13 points, never trailed and pulled away in the middle of the fourth quarter just as the Pioneers looked ready to join the battle. Win another win UTEP went to 6-0 while Denver fell to 3-4.
Advertisement
More: CUSA women’s basketball standings
UTEP’s Ivane Tensaie (3) dribbles the ball during a women’s basketball game against Denver at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.
Stars of the game
Ivane Tensaie continued her hot stretch with a 26-point game to lead four players in double figures, along the way breaking her school record for 3-pointers in a game with eight. Delma Zita only had two points, but in the fourth quarter she had three steals and three of her six assists assists.
UTEP was up 50-44 inside the 7:00 mark when they ripped off a 17-3 run that settled the game. After taking a 13-0 lead, UTEP didn’t let Denver closer than five points.
UTEP’s bench celebrates a 3-pointer during a women’s basketball game against Denver at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.
UTEP coach Keitha Adams: ‘Our defense kicked in’
“We played some passing lanes, we got some steals, we went into our halfcourt trap and got some steals,” coach Keitha Adams said of the fourth-quarter run where UTEP forced five turnovers in an eight-possession stretch. “Our defense kicked in.
Advertisement
“Ivane hit some big shots, we got some big steals, the combination of those things, we came out of that fourth quarter in pretty good shape.”
Tensaie opened this season in a three-game shooting slump (4-of-21 from 3-point range), which continued into the fourth game against Tennessee-Martin before she hit a tying 3-pointer in regulation and a winning 3-pointer in overtime.
She scored 19 points against Kansas City and now 26 as that slump is long forgotten.
UTEP’s Ndack Mbengue (13) plays defense during a women’s basketball game against Denver at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.
Ivane Tensaie comes alive
“I wasn’t trying to get down on myself in those first three games when I was struggling from the 3-point line,” Tensaie said. “My teammates trusted me, my teammates trusted me. I continued to shoot the ball and credit to them for finding me.”
Advertisement
UTEP didn’t have a lot going on offensively in the first three quarters other than Tensaie, but their defense create a string of turnovers that led to easy baskets in the fourth quarter.
Four Miners reach double figures
Sirviva Legions ended up with 17 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, Ndack Mbengue had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Mary Moses Amaniyo, who came in as the national rebounding leader, had 10 points and five rebounds (nine before her season average).
UTEP started the 17-3 run with a Zita steal that led to a Legions free throw, then she later had two more steals in the run that led to breakaway baskets.
Advertisement
“We’ve worked a lot on defense, that’s why for us it’s easy,” Zita said. “We help each other.”
UTEP has helped itself to a 6-0 record as it keeps rolling along.
Up next
UTEP is back at home on Wednesday, Dec. 3 when it hosts Texas A&M Corpus-Christi. The 7 p.m. tip will be streamed on ESPN+.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP women’s basketball team stays perfect, tops Denver
