Jan. 31, 2002
TEMPE, Ariz. - Senior Melody Johnson scored 18 and senior Cian Carvalho added a career-high 17 points to lead Arizona State to a 69-58 victory over Oregon Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
With the victory, ASU's fifth straight at Wells Fargo Arena, the Sun Devils remain tied for second place in the Pac-10 at 8-4 with Saturday's foe, Oregon State, and improve to 17-6 overall. Oregon falls to 12-9 overall and 7-5 in the Pac-10. The win also gives ASU just its second season sweep over Oregon and its first since 1992-93.
The game stayed close at the beginning of the first half, but Arizona State pulled ahead 17-10 with an 8-0 run that began with a three-pointer by Carvalho and ended with a three-pointer by senior Amanda Levens, the 100th trey of her ASU career. ASU shot 48.3 percent in the first half and knocked down 3-of-5 three-point attempts to take a 34-26 halftime lead.
In the second half, ASU went ahead by as many as 11 points to take a 44-33 lead with 15:09 to play on a basket by sophomore Jen Albert, but Oregon went on a 12-2 run to close the gap to 46-45 with 11:20 to play. The Sun Devils answered that run with a pair of three-pointers by sophomore Betsy Boardman and freshman Kylan Loney to go up 52-45 with 9:57 to play. Oregon never got closer than five points and ASU led by as many as 12 points late in the half en route to the 69-58 victory over the Ducks.
For ASU, Johnson tied her season high for scoring with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, while Carvalho turned in a career-high 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a pair of three-pointers. Boardman led the team with six rebounds, while Johnson and Carvalho each grabbed five boards.
Levens also reached double figures for scoring with 11 points and led the game with six assists. With her three-pointer in the first half, she becomes just the third Sun Devil in school history to knock down 100 treys in her career. Loney tied her career high with nine points, while Boardman and Albert each added six points.
For Oregon, junior Shaquala Williams led three Ducks in double figures with 15 points, while sophomore Cathrine Kraayeveld had her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
As a team, ASU outshot Oregon 50.9 percent to 41.5 percent but was outrebounded for just the fifth time this year, 36-30.
Arizona State returns to action Saturday afternoon, playing host to the Oregon State Beavers at 2 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. Fox Sports Net will televise the game with a national cable audience, while the game can also be heard locally on XTRA 910 AM or via the internet at www.thesundevils.com.