Dec. 16, 2005
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Emily Westerberg scored 15 points and No. 10 Arizona State's full-court press forced 23 turnovers in a 68-52 victory over Fresno State on Thursday night.
Arizona State (8-1) extended its winning streak to five games and matched its best start under coach Charli Turner Thorne, who's in her 10th season with the Sun Devils.
Fresno State (5-3) had its three-game win streak snapped and lost at home for the first time this season.
Playing at a helter-skelter pace behind its pressing defense, Arizona State led most of the game, forcing the Bulldogs into 14 first-half turnovers and building a 34-19 lead at the break.
The Sun Devils' lead grew to as much as 20 in the second half when Amy Denson made a jumper on the fastbreak with 6:56 remaining, making it 61-41.
Arizona State entered Thursday averaging 22.5 forced turnovers per game.
Briann January finished with six steals and Denson scored 12 points, coming off a deep bench that allowed Arizona State to play up-tempo the entire game. The Sun Devils converted several fast-break opportunities and shot 51.9 percent from the field.
Fresno State, which shot 40.8 percent, got 13 points each from Amy Parrish, Chantella Perera and Paige Diggs.
The Bulldogs came as close as 44-35 in the second half on Andrea Roberson's layup, but they followed with three straight turnovers that helped Arizona State go on a 17-6 run.