Analysis: UTEP women break through with freshman point guard

The UTEP women's basketball team's victory over Sam Houston State on Saturday felt like a big moment.

Beating a winless-in-conference team in the Haskins Center isn't inherently a huge deal, this is a game the Miners were supposed to win. This was big because it was the absolute moment freshman point guard Aaliyah Stanton broke out.

More: CUSA women's basketball standings

With UTEP down seven nearing the middle of the fourth quarter, the shortest player on the court barreled toward the basket three times in a four-possession stretch. Twice she finished with a layup through the trees, the other time she kicked the ball out to Ivane Tensaie for an open 3-pointer.

In the 9-0 run that permanently swung the game, Stanton scored or assisted on seven points, then she made three of four free throws in the end game. This was a freshman taking over in the biggest moment of what served as the biggest win of the season.

This is something UTEP can ride going forward.

"Her middle name is clutch, she was clutch today," coach Keitha Adams said afterward. "Aaliyah played north-south and got downhill. She's a freshman, but there's going to be the day when I close my eyes and hear myself through Aaliyah.

"I'm showing her my trust, I'm gaining more and more trust in her. Through the years we've had some really great point guards here. It's that extension of one another that's helped us do what we've done."

Every great UTEP women's team had a great point guard, and while this team isn't yet great, their young point guard showed she can be. That can transform this team.

Another development over the two-win weekend was the emergence of forward Mariama Sow, who almost instantly went from a seldom used end-of-the-bencher to a key contributor inside.

That was necessitated by the absence of Adhel Tac, lost for the short term to a shoulder injury. Tac's coming back, but her missing two games opened a door for Sow and she barreled through it.

Between her and Stanton, UTEP tangibly got better this past week and now is in a good place as it heads into a three-game road stretch, starting with Thursday's game at Jacksonville State.

This road swing looks manageable, as the Miners can get themselves in position to make a run at fourth in Conference USA. They look like a team on the cusp of making a charge.

That win against Sam Houston could be where it all really got going.

Men head home looking for consistency

The UTEP men, meanwhile, are in the same place they've been in for months. The Miners win at home, lose on the road and now with three consecutive home games, they are in position to get back in the middle of the CUSA race.

More: CUSA men's basketball standings

Their road problems are common in this league. Home teams are now 21-4 in conference games, with half of those four road wins coming from Louisiana Tech.

UTEP is 0-4 in conference road games and the good news is they've have more road games behind them than anybody in the conference except Florida International (which also has played four road games).

Eventually the Miners are going to have to figure out how to win on the road if they want to get in the top half of the league standings, and they do seem to be trending that way after a close, last-minute loss at Sam Houston where they were without an injured Otis Frazier.

Frazier will be back Thursday against Jacksonville State. Winning these three road games, and UTEP should be slightly favored in all of them, is a must.

That would give them some momentum into their next road trip, and that's something the Miners desperately need.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP women break through with freshman point guard | Bloomquist