Dec. 10, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - Sophomore forward Kristen Kovesdy turned in her fourth career double-double to lead the Arizona State Sun Devils (5-2) to an 87-74 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christii (6-3) Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
Kovesdy scored a career-high 20 points, knocking down 9-of-12 attempts, and grabbed 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard YoVanna Rosenthal also turned in a career best, scoring 14 points after knocking down 3-of-5 attempts from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
Arizona State scored the first three baskets of the game and led by as many as 12 points in the first half, going up 30-18 with 6:47 to play. The Islanders, however, mounted a 16-4 run to tie the game at 34 with 26 seconds left in the half, a stretch that included three three-pointers. ASU went up by two on a pair of free throws by Rosenthal with 11 seconds left, but Texas A&M-CC senior guard Rocky Gilford made a layup with two seconds left to tie the game at 36 at halftime.
In the second half, the two teams traded leads for the first four minutes until the Sun Devils regained their lead after freshman Aubree Johnson converted on a three-point play and junior Lauren Stagg drilled a pair of free throws to put ASU up 50-46 with 15:46 left in the game. The Islanders would cut the lead to one point twice over the next three minutes, but ASU answered with an 11-1 run to take a 67-56 advantage with 9:28 to play. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi would not get closer than six points the rest of the way.
Arizona State finished the game shooting a season-best 55.5 percent but allowed the Islanders to score a season-high 74 points and knock down 8-of-11 three-pointers.
In addition to Kovesdy and Rosenthal, junior Betsy Boardman had 11 points and freshman Alisha Godette turned in nine points in 10 minutes. Junior Carrie Buckner led the team with six assists, while Rosenthal had a game-high four steals.
For the Islanders, sophomore forward Terra Andrews scored 14 points to lead three players in double figures.
Arizona State will take a week off for finals before returning to the court with a trip to the East Coast. The Sun Devils travel to Hartford, Conn., to face two-time defending national champion and top-ranked Connecticut on Thursday, Dec. 18, and to Worcester, Mass., to take on Holy Cross on Saturday, Dec. 20.
The Connecticut game will be televised live by AZ-TV at 5 p.m. Mountain Time, while both games can be heard on ASU's flagship station, NBC 1190 AM, or via the internet at www.thesundevils.com with Vince Marotta calling the action.