LOS ANGELES – The No. 25 Arizona State women's basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped on Friday night as USC shot 51 percent and had four players score in double figures en route to a 77-62 win.
Courtney Ekmark scored 14 of her 17 points in the second half to lead the Sun Devils (17-8, 8-5), who fell to fifth place in the Pac-12 standings. ASU is now one game behind No. 16 Oregon State (18-6, 9-4), one game ahead of Cal (16-8, 7-6) and two games ahead of both USC (16-8, 6-7) and Utah (15-9, 6-7) with five games remaining in the regular season.
Charnea Johnson-Chapman also posted double figures in scoring with 12 points while Kianna Ibis and Kiara Russell added eight points each. Ibis also led the team with eight rebounds.
The Sun Devils shot a respectable 49 percent for the game and outrebounded the Trojans 33-23. On the flip side they gave up 20 points on 16 turnovers and allowed the Trojans to shoot 62 percent in the second half. After holding USC to 25 percent (2-8) shooting from behind the arc in the first half, the Trojans found their touch from long range over the last 20 minutes as they connected on 70 percent (7-10) of their 3-pointers.
Aliyah Mazyck (24 points) and Kristen Simon (22 points) combined 46 points for the Trojans, who were able to dig their way out of an early hole as the Sun Devils scored the game's first eight points.
After knotting the game at 14-14, USC used a 16-6 run to take its largest lead of the first half, 30-20.
A layup by Sophia Elenga and a 3-point play by Robbi Ryan enabled the Sun Devils to cut the deficit in half by the intermission, 30-25.
The Trojans would eventually reclaim a 10-point advantage midway through the third quarter, but could not pull away thanks to the play of Ekmark. The junior sharpshooter scored all 12 of her points in the frame on 3-pointers. The last of those triples got ASU within three points, 48-45.
USC would build its lead back up to seven but the Sun Devils would fight back to make it a one-possession game after Ibis' jumper got ASU within three, 53-50, early in the fourth quarter.
Both teams would experience scoring droughts in the middle stages of the final period. Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, their cold spell last 4:26 while USC's last 2:42. Plus, the Trojans had a seven-point lead at the time their shots suddenly stopped falling.
Johnson-Chapman's jumper with 5:57 left brought the Sun Devils within four points, 59-55. ASU's next basket – a 3-pointer by Ekmark – stopped a run of nine straight points by USC who had a double-digit advantage, 68-58, with 91 seconds left. ASU could not pull any closer the rest of the way.
The Sun Devils conclude their road trip to Los Angeles on Sunday (1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT) when they play at No. 8 UCLA. The game can be seen on Pac-12 Network Arizona/Los Angeles and heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060.
Courtney Ekmark scored 14 of her 17 points in the second half to lead the Sun Devils (17-8, 8-5), who fell to fifth place in the Pac-12 standings. ASU is now one game behind No. 16 Oregon State (18-6, 9-4), one game ahead of Cal (16-8, 7-6) and two games ahead of both USC (16-8, 6-7) and Utah (15-9, 6-7) with five games remaining in the regular season.
Charnea Johnson-Chapman also posted double figures in scoring with 12 points while Kianna Ibis and Kiara Russell added eight points each. Ibis also led the team with eight rebounds.
The Sun Devils shot a respectable 49 percent for the game and outrebounded the Trojans 33-23. On the flip side they gave up 20 points on 16 turnovers and allowed the Trojans to shoot 62 percent in the second half. After holding USC to 25 percent (2-8) shooting from behind the arc in the first half, the Trojans found their touch from long range over the last 20 minutes as they connected on 70 percent (7-10) of their 3-pointers.
Aliyah Mazyck (24 points) and Kristen Simon (22 points) combined 46 points for the Trojans, who were able to dig their way out of an early hole as the Sun Devils scored the game's first eight points.
After knotting the game at 14-14, USC used a 16-6 run to take its largest lead of the first half, 30-20.
A layup by Sophia Elenga and a 3-point play by Robbi Ryan enabled the Sun Devils to cut the deficit in half by the intermission, 30-25.
The Trojans would eventually reclaim a 10-point advantage midway through the third quarter, but could not pull away thanks to the play of Ekmark. The junior sharpshooter scored all 12 of her points in the frame on 3-pointers. The last of those triples got ASU within three points, 48-45.
USC would build its lead back up to seven but the Sun Devils would fight back to make it a one-possession game after Ibis' jumper got ASU within three, 53-50, early in the fourth quarter.
Both teams would experience scoring droughts in the middle stages of the final period. Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, their cold spell last 4:26 while USC's last 2:42. Plus, the Trojans had a seven-point lead at the time their shots suddenly stopped falling.
Johnson-Chapman's jumper with 5:57 left brought the Sun Devils within four points, 59-55. ASU's next basket – a 3-pointer by Ekmark – stopped a run of nine straight points by USC who had a double-digit advantage, 68-58, with 91 seconds left. ASU could not pull any closer the rest of the way.
The Sun Devils conclude their road trip to Los Angeles on Sunday (1 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT) when they play at No. 8 UCLA. The game can be seen on Pac-12 Network Arizona/Los Angeles and heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060.