Nov. 23, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - Junior Betsy Boardman scored a game-high 16 points to lead the Arizona State Sun Devils (2-0) to an 89-51 victory over the Grambling State Lady Tigers (1-1) on Sunday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
Sophomore forward Amy Denson scored the first nine points of the game for the Sun Devils and helped them jump out to a 10-point lead early in the game. Denson scored all 13 of her points in the first half on 6-of-10 shooting. She also finished with five rebounds. ASU increased its first half lead to 20 late in the period, using an 8-0 run that included blocked shots on three straight Grambling State possessions to take a 36-16 lead with 4:37 remaining. The Sun Devils led 45-22 at halftime, holding the Lady Tigers to just 18.8 percent shooting in the first half (6-32).
The Sun Devils opened up the second half with a 10-0 scoring run to take a 55-24 lead with 16:52 left to play. Grambling State never got closer than 29 points the rest of the way. ASU ended the game on an 11-3 run to complete the 89-51 victory and win its first two games of the year for the sixth straight season.
Arizona State shot 44.8 percent in the game (30-67) compared to just 24.6 percent for the team's opponent from Grambling, La., and scored the most points by a Sun Devil squad since 96-52 win over Gonzaga on Dec. 5, 1998, a stretch of 148 games.
Boardman, who was seeing her first action since March of 2002 after missing last season with an knee injury, led all scorers with 16 points and added six rebounds and a pair of assists and steals. Denson and junior guard Kylan Loney each added 13 points, while junior guard Carrie Buckner chipped in with 10 points. Denson had a team-high four steals, and sophomore forward Kristen Kovesdy pulled down a team-best seven rebounds. Buckner led the Sun Devils with a career-high six assists, while Loney added five.
Grambling senior guard Alana Moore led the Lady Tigers with 13 points, while freshman center Lacey Cormier' and freshman forward Dominique Headd each had a game-high eight rebounds.
Arizona State returns to action this weekend, traveling to Grand Bahama Island for the 2003 Junkanoo Jam. ASU will play No. 8 Kansas State (1-1) at 6:50 p.m. MST on Friday, Nov. 28 and either No. 9 Penn State (1-0) or No. 25 George Washington (0-1) in the team's second game at either 12 or 2:20 p.m. MST on Saturday, Nov. 29.
Both games can be heard locally on ASU's flagship station, NBC 1190 AM, or via the internet at www.thesundevils.com.