TEMPE, Ariz. – An outstanding team effort helped propel the No. 25 Arizona State women's basketball team to a 73-66 win over No. 24 Stanford on Sunday. It was the sixth straight victory for the Sun Devils, who also notched their second win over a Top 25 team in three days.
Charnea Johnson-Chapman scored 12 of her career-high-tying 16 points in the second half while also grabbing nine rebounds to help the Sun Devils (13-3, 4-0 Pac-12) remain unbeaten in Pac-12 play and tied with current ninth-ranked Oregon (15-2, 4-0) atop the Pac-12 standings.
Reili Richardson added 11 points, Kianna Ibis and Robbi Ryan each pitched in nine points and Jamie Ruden had eight points for the Sun Devils, who erased an 11-point deficit in the first half and then were able to keep the Cardinal from reclaiming the lead in the second half after Stanford came back from 10 down to tie the game early in the fourth quarter.
One of the game's most telling statistics was the 47-24 advantage ASU had on the boards. Six players had five or more rebounds with Johnson-Chapman leading the way with nine. Ryan tied her career high with eight rebounds while Courtney Ekmark, Ibis, Richardson and Sophia Elenga had five rebounds each. ASU's ability to grab 13 rebounds on the offensive end would end up leading to 22 second-chance points.
Defensively, Kiara Russell came up big as the sophomore guard had a career-high five steals while also recording seven points and three assists.
"I'm really proud of them," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "They executed the game plan: control the boards and take away their transition. Mixing up our defenses I thought helped us out. As young as they are with no seniors we prepared two defenses. Everything they've been able to handle has been really impressive."
The Cardinal (9-7, 3-1) used a 62 percent shooting effort in the first quarter to take a 20-14 lead on the Sun Devils after the first 10 minutes. Ibis' basket and foul gave the Sun Devils an early 5-2 lead, but the Cardinal would respond with a 15-2 run to go up 17-7. Ruden came off the bench to score five points and help ASU respond with a 9-3 run of its own to cut the deficit to six.
ASU's momentum would carry over in the second quarter as it scored eight of the first 10 points to knot the score at 22-22. Four different players – Ryan, Russell, Bre'yanna Sanders and Ruden – accounted for the eight points.
Kaylee Johnson's layup with 4:48 left gave Stanford a 27-24 lead. The points would be Stanford's last of the quarter as the Sun Devils closed the half with an 11-0 run enabling them to take a 35-27 lead into the locker room.
Six different players combined to score ASU's 21 points in the quarter. Russell led the way with six points for the Sun Devils, who were without their scoring (Ibis) and assists (Richardson) leaders for the majority of the first half after both players picked up two fouls in the first quarter.
"I think the thing that just stands out about this team is how they all just take turns stepping up," Turner Thorne said. "Kianna and Reili Richardson both with two fouls early in the game, have to sit a lot of the first half…This team, our core group they just keep taking turns and making plays."
Johnson-Chapman (seven points) and Richardson (six points) combined to score 13 of ASU's 15 points in the third quarter as the Sun Devils pushed their lead to 10 after Johnson-Chapman's layup with 1:51 remaining.
Like the Sun Devils did earlier in the game, Stanford would also battle back after facing a double-digit deficit. Marta Sniezek's 3-pointer ignited a 10-0 run for the Cardinal that was capped by Kiana Williams' layup that tied the score at 50-50 early in the fourth quarter.
ASU would respond after a jumper by Richardson and back-to-back layups by Johnson-Chapman put ASU up 56-50.
Sniezek's third 3-pointer of the game cut the deficit in half, but Stanford would get no closer after it managed to score only three points in the ensuing five minutes. The Sun Devils would score 10 points during the same stretch as they would once again go up 10 after Richardson's free throw with 1:19 left.
"I think this team has shown tremendous resilience," Turner Thorne said. "I think our preseason schedule prepared us. There's nothing this team hasn't seen. They're just good learners. Every time they try to not play hard and I get on them they respond. I thought they played a great fourth quarter and worked a lot harder."
The Sun Devils return to action next weekend when they travel to Oregon to take on No. 16 Oregon State on Friday (6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT) and No. 9 Oregon on Sunday (5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT). Both games can be seen on Pac-12 Networks and heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060.
Charnea Johnson-Chapman scored 12 of her career-high-tying 16 points in the second half while also grabbing nine rebounds to help the Sun Devils (13-3, 4-0 Pac-12) remain unbeaten in Pac-12 play and tied with current ninth-ranked Oregon (15-2, 4-0) atop the Pac-12 standings.
Reili Richardson added 11 points, Kianna Ibis and Robbi Ryan each pitched in nine points and Jamie Ruden had eight points for the Sun Devils, who erased an 11-point deficit in the first half and then were able to keep the Cardinal from reclaiming the lead in the second half after Stanford came back from 10 down to tie the game early in the fourth quarter.
One of the game's most telling statistics was the 47-24 advantage ASU had on the boards. Six players had five or more rebounds with Johnson-Chapman leading the way with nine. Ryan tied her career high with eight rebounds while Courtney Ekmark, Ibis, Richardson and Sophia Elenga had five rebounds each. ASU's ability to grab 13 rebounds on the offensive end would end up leading to 22 second-chance points.
Defensively, Kiara Russell came up big as the sophomore guard had a career-high five steals while also recording seven points and three assists.
"I'm really proud of them," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "They executed the game plan: control the boards and take away their transition. Mixing up our defenses I thought helped us out. As young as they are with no seniors we prepared two defenses. Everything they've been able to handle has been really impressive."
The Cardinal (9-7, 3-1) used a 62 percent shooting effort in the first quarter to take a 20-14 lead on the Sun Devils after the first 10 minutes. Ibis' basket and foul gave the Sun Devils an early 5-2 lead, but the Cardinal would respond with a 15-2 run to go up 17-7. Ruden came off the bench to score five points and help ASU respond with a 9-3 run of its own to cut the deficit to six.
ASU's momentum would carry over in the second quarter as it scored eight of the first 10 points to knot the score at 22-22. Four different players – Ryan, Russell, Bre'yanna Sanders and Ruden – accounted for the eight points.
Kaylee Johnson's layup with 4:48 left gave Stanford a 27-24 lead. The points would be Stanford's last of the quarter as the Sun Devils closed the half with an 11-0 run enabling them to take a 35-27 lead into the locker room.
Six different players combined to score ASU's 21 points in the quarter. Russell led the way with six points for the Sun Devils, who were without their scoring (Ibis) and assists (Richardson) leaders for the majority of the first half after both players picked up two fouls in the first quarter.
"I think the thing that just stands out about this team is how they all just take turns stepping up," Turner Thorne said. "Kianna and Reili Richardson both with two fouls early in the game, have to sit a lot of the first half…This team, our core group they just keep taking turns and making plays."
Johnson-Chapman (seven points) and Richardson (six points) combined to score 13 of ASU's 15 points in the third quarter as the Sun Devils pushed their lead to 10 after Johnson-Chapman's layup with 1:51 remaining.
Like the Sun Devils did earlier in the game, Stanford would also battle back after facing a double-digit deficit. Marta Sniezek's 3-pointer ignited a 10-0 run for the Cardinal that was capped by Kiana Williams' layup that tied the score at 50-50 early in the fourth quarter.
ASU would respond after a jumper by Richardson and back-to-back layups by Johnson-Chapman put ASU up 56-50.
Sniezek's third 3-pointer of the game cut the deficit in half, but Stanford would get no closer after it managed to score only three points in the ensuing five minutes. The Sun Devils would score 10 points during the same stretch as they would once again go up 10 after Richardson's free throw with 1:19 left.
"I think this team has shown tremendous resilience," Turner Thorne said. "I think our preseason schedule prepared us. There's nothing this team hasn't seen. They're just good learners. Every time they try to not play hard and I get on them they respond. I thought they played a great fourth quarter and worked a lot harder."
The Sun Devils return to action next weekend when they travel to Oregon to take on No. 16 Oregon State on Friday (6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT) and No. 9 Oregon on Sunday (5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT). Both games can be seen on Pac-12 Networks and heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060.