Dec. 22, 2005
TUCSON, Ariz. - Led by senior F Kristen Kovesdy and redshirt junior G Jill Noe, who both scored 13 points, the No. 10 Arizona State women's basketball team won its seventh consecutive game, defeating Arizona 83-59 before a crowd of 2,991 on Thursday night. For ASU, the seven-game winning streak ties its best such streak under 10th-year head coach Charli Turner Thorne.
Sophomore G Reagan Pariseau and freshman G Kate Engelbrecht also added 10 points apiece for the Sun Devils (10-1, 1-0 Pac-10), who won their first game in since 2001. All 10 of Pariseau's points came in the second half.
"Wins are never easy," said Turner Thorne following the game. "We obviously had to work hard for this victory."
As a team, the Sun Devils shot 53.8 percent for the game and out-rebounded the Wildcats (4-6, 0-1 Pac-10) 33-26. ASU also made all nine of its free throws.
It appeared early on that ASU might run away with the game after taking an 8-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest. The Sun Devils would lead by eight on two other occasions before went on a 17-7 run to take a 21-19 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half. The Sun Devils would eventually reclaim the lead and would close the half on an 18-6 run to take a 10-point lead into the locker room (37-27). Leading ASU in the first half was Kovesdy who had 11 points and seven rebounds.
"At the half, the team was really fired up from that run that we had going in," said Turner Thorne. "We knew we still had a lot to give. We hadn't played our best in the first half. We got better post play and made some adjustments against their zone (defense)."
It would take ASU less than four minutes to double its halftime lead as the Sun Devils scored 12 of the first 14 points of the second half to take a 49-29 lead. Later in the half an 11-0 run help ASU extend its lead to 31 points (70-39) with just over six minutes left to play. A basket by Engelbrecht with left in the game gave ASU its biggest lead of 34 points (81-47).
ASU returns to action when it hosts the on Thurs., Dec. 29 at at Wells Fargo Arena in .