Feb. 25, 2006
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Kristen Kovesdy scored 12 points and had 11 rebounds to lead No. 11 Arizona State past Arizona 81-45 on Saturday for its ninth straight victory.
With the win and Stanford's victory over Washington State, the Sun Devils (23-5, 14-4) finished a game behind the Cardinal in the conference standings and will be the No. 2 seed in the Pac-10 tournament next weekend in San Jose, Calif.
Arizona State, which tied a school record set earlier this season for consecutive wins, finished 15-0 at home for the season, also a school first.
Arizona (7-21, 3-15) lost its ninth straight.
The Sun Devils took advantage of Arizona's poor start from the field to grab an early lead. Arizona missed 16 of its first 19 shots and fell behind 17-8. Briann January scored seven points in the first half as Arizona State took a 39-19 lead.
The Wildcats finished the half 6-of-28 (21 percent) from the field and shot 24 percent (15-of-62) for the game.
The Sun Devils outrebounded the Wildcats 52-31.
Joy Hollingsworth led Arizona with 14 points. January added 12 points for Arizona State.
The Wildcats have lost 14 of their last 16 games. They lost their last nine games by an average of 16 points.