Boise women beat UTEP

RENO - The focus was to take care of the basketball and keep UTEP off the offensive glass.

The Boise State Broncos were able to accomplish that in their 55-50 win over the Miners Tuesday afternoon in the opening round of the WAC Tournament at Lawlor Events Center.

Boise State turned the ball over just 14 times compared to 27 when the teams met last Thursday, and only gave up nine offensive rebounds.

"Fourteen turnovers is as well as we've done in the last five or six games," BSU coach Jen Warden said. "I was really impressed with what we did tonight."

Offensively, it was the young and old of the Broncos' offense that came up with big plays throughout the game. Junior Cassidy Blaine led Boise State with 17 points, including three three-pointers, and freshman point guard Tasha Harris added 14.

Blaine's underhand scoop shot gave the Broncos a 51-46 lead with 3:26 to play. UTEP had chances on its next two possessions to cut into the lead, but Izabela Piekarska missed a layup and Angie McGee missed badly on a three-pointer.

Marta Dydek trimmed the lead to 51-48, and then Harris scored on a driving layup from the left side of the key to make it 53-48 with 20.4 left. Harris made a heads-up play on the next possession when she stole the ball from Shalana Taylor. Blaine was fouled, and then drained two free throws for a 55-48 advantage.

"Cassidy did hit some big shots," Warden said. "She has really come up and played some big basketball. Cassidy has always stepped up in critical times for us."

"Tasha made the key play of the game off that dribble weave, and then she made a heads-up play on the inbounds pass."

UTEP coach Keitha Green lamented the missed opportunities by her team. The Miners turned the ball over 20 times, and missed Charnetta Phelps (left knee) in the second half. She finished with 12 points.

"We had close looks around the basket, but didn't finish," she said. "When you only score 50 points, you are not going to win many games.

"Charnetta had a really good first half. She was able to get offensive rebounds. Her second efforts have helped us this year. Not having her there for second opportunities hurt us today."