Nov. 8, 2002
TEMPE, Ariz. - Freshman forward Amy Denson scored 19 points and freshman guard Jill Noe added 18 as the Arizona State women's basketball team opened the exhibition season Friday night with a 101-57 victory over the University of Mathias Bell Banska Bystrica, a traveling team from Slovakia.
The Sun Devils, who started three sophomores and two true freshmen, jumped out to an early 6-0 lead over the first minute and a half of the game, but Banska Bystrica tied the game at 10 with 15:19 to play and took its only lead of the game with a 14-13 advantage with 13:44 left in the half.
Arizona State regained the lead with 13:19 to play when junior Jen Albert knocked down a three-pointer to put the team up 16-14. The Sun Devils had 15 steals, including four by sophomore Carrie Buckner, and outscored the Slovakians 40-11 over the final seven minutes of the half to take a 53-25 halftime lead.
Noe led all scorers in the half with 13 of her 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
The second half provided much of the same as the Sun Devils increased their lead to as many as 51 points midway through the half. Denson scored 14 of her team-leading 19 points in the second half, while the Sun Devils outshot Banska Bystrica 64.3 to 44.8 percent in the period.
A total of five Sun Devils, including four true freshmen, finished the game in double figures for scoring led by Denson and Noe who had 19 and 18 points, respectively. Freshman guard YoVanna Rosenthal had 13 points, and freshman Kristen Kovesdy and Buckner each added 10 points. Denson also led the team with seven rebounds, while sophomore Kylan Loney dished out a team-best six assists. The Sun Devils finished with 21 steals as a team, including four apiece from Buckner, Noe and Rosenthal.
For Banska Bystrica, Andrea Belanska had 19 points, while Denisa Svarova pulled down seven rebounds.
The Sun Devils will play their second and final exhibition tune-up on Thursday, Nov. 14 vs. the West Coast All-Stars, a traveling team of former college stars, before opening the regular season Friday, Nov. 22 with Chicago State at 8 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Chicago State game will be part of a doubleheader with the ASU men's team, which opens its season with Morehead State at 5:30 p.m. that night. Fans purchasing a ticket for the men's game will receive free admission to the women's game, which will tip off 30 minutes after the conclusion of the men's game.
For tickets, call the Arizona State ticket office at (480) 965-2381 or log onto the official web site of Arizona State athletics at www.thesundevils.com.