Dec. 9, 2002
TEMPE, Ariz. - Freshman Jill Noe just missed a triple-double with 17 points, nine assists and nine rebounds as the Arizona State women's basketball team rolled to a 76-53 victory over Denver Monday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
Arizona State improved to 6-1 on the season with the victory, while Denver is now 2-5 on the year.
The Sun Devils controlled the game from the beginning, jumping out to an 11-0 lead with 16:13 left in the first half. Noe turned in 10 points, six rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocks in the first 20 minutes as Arizona State rebounded from its loss to Notre Dame with a 59.3 percent shooting effort (16-27) in the first half. Freshman Amy Denson came off the bench with an inspired 5-of-5 shooting performance for 10 points in the first half, while the Sun Devils led by as many as 18 points in the first half en route to a 38-25 halftime lead.
The second half provided much of the same as the Sun Devils opened up a 22-point lead with an 11-2 run to begin the period. Arizona State led by as many as 27 points, and the Pioneers never got closer than 18 points down the stretch as the Sun Devils rolled to the 76-53 victory. Noe added another seven points, three rebounds, three assists and a steal in the second half as she came close to recording just the third triple-double in Arizona State history before leaving the game with just under four minutes left with a slight leg bruise.
Noe led the team in just about every category with 17 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, six steals and two blocks, while Denson knocked down all seven of her attempts from the field and a pair of free throws for 16 points. Freshman Kristen Kovesdy had 10 points, while senior Rainy Crisp turned in another solid effort with five assists, four steals and two points.
For the Pioneers, senior guard Ashley Atkinson had 16 points, knocking down all four of her three-point attempts and 6-of-8 from the field, while sophomore forward Nicky Eason had 11 points. Junior forward Stephanie Hart led the team with six rebounds.
Arizona State takes eight days off for finals before making its first road trip of the season, traveling to Kent State on Dec. 18 and Akron on Dec. 20.
The Sun Devils then open the Pac-10 Conference season with a trip to the Bay Area, traveling to Stanford on Dec. 27 in a rematch of last year's Pac-10 Tournament championship game and to California on Dec. 29. Arizona State returns home on Jan. 2 and 4 for its conference home-opening weekend, playing host to Oregon State and Oregon, respectively.