TEMPE, Ariz. – Arnecia Hawkins scored a career-high 23 points as the No. 22 Arizona State women’s basketball team upset No. 10 Florida State 68-56 on Monday.
Hawkins, who was 12-18 from the floor in ASU’s previous three games, maintained the hot hand on Monday as she made all seven of her shots, including a trio of 3-pointers, and was 6-7 from the line.
Quinn Dornstauder (11 points, six rebounds and three blocks), Elisha Davis (10 points and six assists) and Sophie Brunner (10 points and six rebounds) also scored in double figures for the Sun Devils (8-3), who avenged last season’s one-point loss to the Seminoles in the NCAA regional semifinals.
“I just feel like we have our mojo back,” ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “We really put it all together today against a really good Florida State team and we really executed our defensive game plan.”
The Sun Devils, who shot a combined 49.7 percent in the three games leading up to their showdown with the Seminoles, continued to put the ball in the basket at a high percentage as they shot 49 percent vs. Florida State.
Although they would go on to have a strong offensive showing, the game did not start well for the Sun Devils as the Seminoles (9-3) came out and scored the first seven points of the game to gain the early advantage. ASU struggled on the offensive end in the first quarter connecting on only one of 10 shots. Good defense and four free throws enabled ASU to trail by only six points, 12-6, after the first 10 minutes.
ASU, which made 59 percent of its shots over the final three quarters, used an 11-4 run over the first 5:29 of the second quarter to take its first lead of the game, 17-16, after a layup by Kelsey Moos.
With the game tied at 21-21 the Seminoles went on a 5-0 run to take a 26-21 lead with 1:27 left in the half. The Sun Devils would answer with four straight points capped by a triple from Sabrina Haines to get within one point at the half.
The second half was a much different story, as the Sun Devils erupted for 43 points. ASU caught fire from all areas on the floor over the final 20 minutes, shooting 65 percent (15-23) overall, 67 percent (6-9) from beyond the arc and a perfect 100 percent from the foul line (7-7).
After a layup by Adut Bulgak gave Florida State a 33-32 lead with 6:36 left in the third quarter, the Sun Devils responded with a 12-0 run to take a 44-33 lead with 1:31 remaining. In a concise illustration of ASU’s balanced attack, five different Sun Devils – Haines (3-pointer), Davis (layup), Dornstauder (layup), Hawkins (two free throws) and Brunner (3-point play) – contributed on the scoring run.
ASU was equally effective on the defensive end in the third quarter as the Seminoles scored only nine points, which matched their lowest point total in a quarter this season.
Florida State closed the gap to five, 46-41, on a three-point play from Emiah Bingley with 6:13 left in the game, but that would be the closest FSU would get.
Back-to-back threes from Hawkins and Davis extended ASU’s lead to 52-41, and another three from Hawkins capped off an 11-2 run that gave the Sun Devils a 57-43 lead with 3:37 left to play.
Hawkins led the way in the fourth quarter as she scored 13 of ASU’s 24 points. The senior guard made all four of her shots, including three from downtown, to contribute to ASU’s 80-percent shooting effort (8-10) in the final stanza.
Brittany Brown led Florida State with 17 points and six assists, while Bingley added 15 points for the Seminoles.
ASU closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule next Monday (3 p.m. MT) when it hosts CSUN at Wells Fargo Arena.