TEMPE, Ariz. – Courtney Ekmark scored a game-high 15 points and Robbi Ryan had 14 to help the Arizona State women's basketball team to a 61-41 win over Washington on Friday.
For the second time in as many games the Sun Devils (16-7, 7-4 Pac-12) held the opposition to its lowest point total of the season. Combined with its 57-42 win at Cal last Sunday, ASU has given up an average of only 41.5 points in its last two games.
The Huskies (7-15, 1-10), who were led by Amber Melgoza's 13 points, made only 31 percent of their shots.
The Sun Devils were plus-12 on the boards (36-24) as Ekmark (eight rebounds), Charnea Johnson-Chapman (six rebounds) and Reili Richardson (six rebounds) combined for more than half of ASU's rebounds.
Ekmark (5-10 FGs), Ryan (6-9 FGs), Johnson-Chapman (3-4 FGs), Sophia Elenga (2-2 FGs) and Richardson (2-3 FGs) combined to shoot 64 percent (18-28) in helping ASU shoot 54.3 percent for the game, the second time it has shot higher than 50 percent in Pac-12 play.
Four Sun Devils had three or more assists led by Kiara Russell, who had five to go with three rebounds.
"Well I loved the way we started the game," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "I love the way we came out with energy and intensity and that's something that obviously we did against Cal and I thought we came out and did the same thing against Washington. Not the second half offensively that we wanted to have. In my mind I guess the positive of the second half for this young team is we've been telling them all year "If we're not scoring, the other team can't score," and we haven't been as good as we need to be at that. But I thought in this game at least when we were not executing or playing the way we wanted to offensively, or just missing shots, we went down and I thought we really were tough…that was a growth point for us in the second half."
The Sun Devils came out and knocked down 83 percent (10-12) of their shots in the first quarter on their way to a 24-11 lead. Ekmark (seven points), Ryan (seven points), Kianna Ibis (four of her six points in the game) and Jamie Ruden (four of her eight points in the game) combined for 22 points in the opening frame.
ASU would continue its hot shooting in the second quarter (6-12/50 percent) while turning up the intensity on the defensive end. More than five minutes went by before the Huskies scored their first point of the quarter (a free throw by Kierra Collier). It would take them nearly nine minutes to make their first field goal, a layup by Melgoza layup with 1:07 remaining.
ASU's 15-5 scoring advantage in the second quarter gave the Sun Devils a 39-16 lead at the half. The 16 points represented the second-fewest given up by the Sun Devils in the first half this season while the five points also tied the second-fewest given up in a quarter by the Sun Devils.
Although the Sun Devils were not able to match their offensive success over the first 20 minutes in the second half, they still continued to put the clamps down defensively as Washington scored only 25 points over the last two quarters.
The Sun Devils return to action on Sunday (2 p.m. MT) when they host Washington State in a Super Sunday matinee. The game will be streamed live at http://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university and can be heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060.
For the second time in as many games the Sun Devils (16-7, 7-4 Pac-12) held the opposition to its lowest point total of the season. Combined with its 57-42 win at Cal last Sunday, ASU has given up an average of only 41.5 points in its last two games.
The Huskies (7-15, 1-10), who were led by Amber Melgoza's 13 points, made only 31 percent of their shots.
The Sun Devils were plus-12 on the boards (36-24) as Ekmark (eight rebounds), Charnea Johnson-Chapman (six rebounds) and Reili Richardson (six rebounds) combined for more than half of ASU's rebounds.
Ekmark (5-10 FGs), Ryan (6-9 FGs), Johnson-Chapman (3-4 FGs), Sophia Elenga (2-2 FGs) and Richardson (2-3 FGs) combined to shoot 64 percent (18-28) in helping ASU shoot 54.3 percent for the game, the second time it has shot higher than 50 percent in Pac-12 play.
Four Sun Devils had three or more assists led by Kiara Russell, who had five to go with three rebounds.
"Well I loved the way we started the game," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "I love the way we came out with energy and intensity and that's something that obviously we did against Cal and I thought we came out and did the same thing against Washington. Not the second half offensively that we wanted to have. In my mind I guess the positive of the second half for this young team is we've been telling them all year "If we're not scoring, the other team can't score," and we haven't been as good as we need to be at that. But I thought in this game at least when we were not executing or playing the way we wanted to offensively, or just missing shots, we went down and I thought we really were tough…that was a growth point for us in the second half."
The Sun Devils came out and knocked down 83 percent (10-12) of their shots in the first quarter on their way to a 24-11 lead. Ekmark (seven points), Ryan (seven points), Kianna Ibis (four of her six points in the game) and Jamie Ruden (four of her eight points in the game) combined for 22 points in the opening frame.
ASU would continue its hot shooting in the second quarter (6-12/50 percent) while turning up the intensity on the defensive end. More than five minutes went by before the Huskies scored their first point of the quarter (a free throw by Kierra Collier). It would take them nearly nine minutes to make their first field goal, a layup by Melgoza layup with 1:07 remaining.
ASU's 15-5 scoring advantage in the second quarter gave the Sun Devils a 39-16 lead at the half. The 16 points represented the second-fewest given up by the Sun Devils in the first half this season while the five points also tied the second-fewest given up in a quarter by the Sun Devils.
Although the Sun Devils were not able to match their offensive success over the first 20 minutes in the second half, they still continued to put the clamps down defensively as Washington scored only 25 points over the last two quarters.
The Sun Devils return to action on Sunday (2 p.m. MT) when they host Washington State in a Super Sunday matinee. The game will be streamed live at http://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university and can be heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060.