Led by junior forward Delisha Wills, with her second double double of the season, the Mustangs defeated the University of Texas at El Paso in a 70-64 victory, Saturday afternoon in El Paso.

Having fallen to Tulane, Tulsa and UTEP on the road last season, the Mustangs swept all three conference opponents, on their respective courts this season, for the first time in the program’s history.

Crediting her team’s success on the road to the fresh talent on the young roster, Head Coach Rhonda Rompola explained that while last year’s senior class struggled on the road, this year’s talent seems to find no fault in playing at home or away from Moody Coliseum.

“[Last year’s seniors] struggled a little but more on the road,” said Rompola. “Those seniors struggled with Tulane and UTEP on the road. Those seniors struggled beating Tulsa. When you have so many new players and you lose those seniors it doesn’t even phase them.”

With their fourth consecutive win in Conference USA play, the Mustangs are now locked in a tie with Marshall for the No.1 spot in C-USA rankings. Standing at 12-7 overall and 5-1 in the conference, the Mustangs’ only conference loss of the season was a 70-63 downfall to the Thundering Herd in the opening week of conference play.

Sweeping a three-game road series, the Mustangs now post a perfect 3-0 away record in C-USA play.

UTEP, receiving the Conference USA regular season title last year, fell to the Mustangs in the C-USA Championship last season, but still received a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Following Saturday’s loss, the Miners slipped from their No.1 spot in conference polls to just 11-8 and 4-2.

“I went into that road trip and said we’re all even, I don’t think any team is better than another,” said Rompola. “It’s just who shows up and plays better that night. I was pleasantly surprised we won two road games [Tulane and UTEP] because I knew it was going to be difficult. I don’t think either game was more of a rival or big game, I just know we’ve done something we’ve never done before.”

Wills led the Mustangs with 20 points and 10 rebounds on the night, followed by junior guard Brittany Gilliam with 11 points and eight rebounds. Hitting six of her first seven shots, Wills posted 13 points in the first half. Freshman post Christina Elliott shot a perfect 5-5 in field goals, giving her 10 points on the night.

SMU’s bench outscored UTEP 20-14, shooting 32 points in the paint and out shooting the Miners 15-4 in second chances.

“Another difference I’ve seen with this team is on various nights we’ve had a lot of different people be the difference maker in the game,” said Rompola. “This team isn’t so caught up in their own stats. This team is a very unselfish team and they are learning to play as a team.”

The Mustangs return to Moody Coliseum for a two-game home stint against the University of Houston (11-6, 3-2) on Thursday night followed by 5-13 and 0-5 Rice on Saturday.