Dec. 5, 1999
TEMPE, Ariz. - Sophomore Theresa Jantzen was named tournament Most Valuable Player as the Arizona State Sun Devils defeated South Carolina 61-56 Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena to win the 1999 Wells Fargo Classic. Earlier in the vening, Nevada earned a 72-64 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the consolation game.
Joining Jantzen on the all-tournament team were ASU senior Rachel Holt, who led the Sun Devils in scoring with 16 points in the victory over South Carolina, South Carolina's Shaunzinski Gortman, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Jean Clark and Nevada's Kate White.
Arizona State built a 38-36 lead at halftime, shooting 61.1 percent in the first half. The Sun Devils turned in a balanced scoring attack in the first half with all eight of its players putting points on the board, including a team-high eight from Jantzen.
In the second half, Holt hit a pair of free throws and a jumper a minute later to give the Sun Devils a four-point advantage, the largest lead they would hold until the waning minutes of the game. The Lady Gamecocks then went on a 7-0 run to take a 45-42 lead when South Carolina's Ines Ajanovic hit a three-pointer with 16:43 left in the game.
A seesaw battle ensued over the next 15 minutes with three ties and four lead changes. Junior Liz Paulson fueled the Sun Devils' charge, scoring seven points over the final 15 minutes and hitting a jumper with 43 seconds left to put the Sun Devils ahead for good. ASU sealed the victory by draining all four of its free throw attempts in the final 14 seconds of the game to improve to 5-1 on the season, the team's best start since the 1991-92 team opened the season with a school-record nine victories.
The Sun Devils played just eight players for the third time in four games en route to their second straight Wells Fargo Classic championship. Paulson tied her season high with 11 points and led the team with four assists. Sophomore Leah Combs and senior Kristine Sand shared the top rebounding honors with seven boards apiece.
Arizona State returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 8 when the team plays host to the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at 7 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. The game can be heard live on KTKP 1280 AM, while Cox Communications will also broadcast the game on television.