Nov. 6, 2006
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 12 Arizona State women's basketball team concluded its two-game exhibition slate with a 94-49 win over Vanguard University on Monday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
Five Sun Devils scored in double figures led by senior F Emily Westerberg's 20 points. Westerberg connected on 70 percent of her FG attempts (10-14) while also adding four rebounds, two assists and three steals. Right behind Westerberg were senior F Aubree Johnson and freshman G Dymond Simon, who both scored 16 points for ASU. Johnson was perfect from the floor, hitting all seven of her shots and both of her free throw attempts in addition to grabbing seven rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for the Sun Devils were sophomore G Danielle Orsillo (13 points) and senior G Jill Noe (11 points). Noe's nine rebounds led the Sun Devils. Although she scored only four points, sophomore G Briann January made her presence known, dishing out nine assists with zero turnovers while also recording four steals."
"I think there is no question we saw progress from our first exhibition but we still have a long way to go," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said following the game. "I liked what I saw out of our transition game tonight. We still need to work on our defense. We gave up too many open looks tonight."
The Sun Devil offense clicked on all cylinders in the opening half, shooting 58.5 percent from the field. Three Sun Devils scored in double figures in the first 20 minutes led by Simon who hit all six of her field goals and tallied 14 points. Westerberg (5-8 FG) and Johnson (4-4 FG) each added 10 points for the Sun Devils, who led by 30, 57-27, at the half.
In the second half the Sun Devils continued their efficiency on offense as they would eventually build their lead to 50 points (90-40). Contributing to ASU's success was a stingy defense which at one point in the second half did not allow Vanguard to score for nearly six minutes.
Leading Vanguard on the evening was junior G Jessica Richter who scored 13 points.
ASU opens up the 2006-07 regular season this weekend when it hosts the Veterans Day Classic, which will feature Nebraska, No. 20 New Mexico and Florida Atlantic. ASU will face Nebraska on Fri., Nov. 10 at 4:30 p.m.; New Mexico on Sun., Nov. 12 at noon and Florida Atlantic on Mon., Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.
Tickets are now on sale for all of ASU's home games including its Nov. 19 tilt against the University of Tennessee and the Hoops for Health Classic in which the Sun Devils will face Texas Tech on Dec. 18 in the second ever outdoor game at Chase Field in Phoenix. For more information, contact the Sun Devil ticket office at 480-727-0000.