Nov. 20, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - Sophomore Emily Westerberg scored 17 points to lead Arizona State to a 70-45 victory over San Diego Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena. With the victory, the Sun Devils improve to 2-1 on the season, while San Diego falls to 0-1.
San Diego took the early lead in the ball game, capitalizing on five ASU turnovers to take a 12-2 lead with 14:37 to play. The Toreros continued to control the game for the next three minutes and led 17-8 with 11:17 left in the first half. The Sun Devils went on a 19-2 run over the next eight minutes to take a lead the team would not relinquish.
Westerberg, who had 13 of her 17 points in the first half, scored nine straight points during that run as ASU tied the game at 19-19 with 5:40 to play. The Sun Devils scored the next eight points to take a 27-19 lead with 3:22 remaining, a stretch that was capped off by the first career three-pointer by sophomore Aubree Johnson. ASU scored the last seven points of the first half to take a 34-21 halftime advantage.
The Sun Devils scored the first seven points of the second half to go up 40-21 with 16:59 to play. led by as many as 26 four minutes later after a pair of steals by junior Amy Denson and back-to-back layups by junior Kristen Kovesdy. ASU shot 53.3 percent in the second half and led by as many as 27 late in the half en route to the 70-45 victory.
Westerberg led all scorers with 17 points, knocking down 5-of-9 attempts from the field and 7-of-9 from the free throw line, while Denson added 13 points for the Sun Devils. Johnson and Kovesdy each had nine points, and senior Carrie Buckner led the team with six rebounds. Four Sun Devils turned in three steals apiece for the team, which forced 31 San Diego turnovers. ASU outshot San Diego 43.8 percent to 40.5 and outrebounded the Toreros 40-28.
For San Diego, freshman Amber Sprague led the team with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while sophomore Sabine Loewe had 14 points and a team-high six rebounds.
The Sun Devils return to action next week, traveling to San Antonio, Texas, for the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 26-27. ASU will take on Seton Hall in the first round of the tournament and Prairie View A&M in the second.
Both games can be heard locally on NBC 1190 AM or via the internet at www.thesundevils.com.