Nov. 17, 2001
TEMPE, Ariz. - Senior guard Amanda Levens scored a career-high 30 points as the 22nd-ranked Arizona State women's basketball team opened the season with a 72-67 win over St. Peter's Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
Arizona State jumped out to an early advantage, going up 19-6 with 13:29 left in the first half, and led by as many as 14 late in the session. Levens scored 18 of her 30 points in the first 20 minutes, and the Sun Devils outshot the Peahens 48.5 to 37.0 percent in the first half. ASU looked to go into the locker room with a 14-point advantage at the half, but St. Peter's guard Lindsay Gonzalez hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut ASU's lead to 39-28.
In the second half, however, St. Peter's cut into ASU's lead, forcing three quick turnovers to start the period and narrowing ASU's lead to single digits early in the period. The Peahens took their first lead of the game with 6:27 to play in the game when freshman Tyiana Sears drained a pair of free throws to make it 54-53.
A seesaw battle ensued over the next four minutes with two more ties and six lead changes. ASU took a 62-61 lead when sophomore Betsy Boardman hit a clutch jumper with 2:35 to play and held on for good, despite missing five of six free throw attempts over the last 25 seconds of the game.
For the Sun Devils, Levens led the team with a career-high 30 points, shooting 8-of-18 from the field and 12-of-18 from the free throw line, while senior Melody Johnson was the only other Sun Devil in double figures with 12 points. Senior Leah Combs led the game with 10 rebounds, including seven in the second half, to go along with seven points. For St. Peter's senior forward Felicia Harris and Gonzalez each had 15 points, while Sears turned in 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Arizona State, now 1-0 on the year, returns to action next week with a pair of games, taking on Delaware State on Monday night and Loyola Marymount on Wednesday night. Both games tip off at 7 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.