Feb. 10, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - Junior Kristen Kovesdy scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds -- Arizona State University's first double-double of the season -- as the Sun Devils held off USC 49-45 Thursday night in Pac-10 play at Wells Fargo Arena.
With the win, ASU improved to 16-7 overall and 8-5 in the Pac-10, while USC fell to 16-7 and 10-4 in league action. The Sun Devils won their fourth straight home game and the team's 14th in 15 tries at Wells Fargo Arena.
ASU took control of the game early in the first half, using a 7-0 run to go up 22-16 with 5:46 to play. Senior Kylan Loney led the team with 10 first-half points, including a pair of three-pointers, as the Sun Devils went into the locker room with a 33-22 halftime lead.
The Sun Devils opened the second half with a 7-2 run to take a 16-point lead, 40-24 with 15:00 to play, but the Women of Troy scored nine straight points as part of 17-3 run to tie the score at 43 with 3:37 left.
For ASU, Kovesdy scored on a second-chance layup, and Loney followed with her own to put the team up four. USC junior Meghan Gnekow scored her 10th point on a driving layup to cut the lead to 47-45 with 1:45 left, but USC got no closer. Sophomore Jamie Hagiya missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 34 seconds remaining and then sophomore Eshaya Murphy traveled with 3.3 seconds left and the Women of Troy trailing 48-45.
Loney led all scorers with 14 points and added three assists and two steals, while Kovesdy finished with 13 points and a season-high 10 rebounds. Senior Lauren Stagg added six rebounds, and senior Betsy Boardman had five for the Sun Devils. Sophomore Emily Westerberg had four assists to lead the Sun Devils in the category.
Sophomore Jamie Funn had 13 points and 10 rebounds -- her first double-double of the season -- to lead USC, which had won three of four to move within two games of first-place Stanford.
USC rallied despite shooting 29 percent from the field (18 of 63) and outrebounding the Sun Devils 50-40. ASU shot just 24 percent from the field in the second half but was able to hold on for the team's eighth conference victory of the season.
ASU also improved to 2-0 with Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano serving as a guest coach. Napolitano sat on the bench with the Sun Devils during the game, participated in team huddles and attended pre-game, halftime and post-game locker room meetings.
ASU returns to action on Saturday afternoon, playing host to UCLA (15-8, 9-5) at 4 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. The Bruins had their three-game winning streak snapped on Thursday night with a 78-76 loss at Arizona.
AZ-TV will broadcast the UCLA game to a statewide television audience, while the contest can also be heard locally on NBC 1190 AM or via the internet at www.thesundevils.com with Jeff Munn and Seth Sulka calling the action.