TEMPE – The Sun Devil women's basketball team concluded the Global Sports & Events Tipoff: Phoenix with a perfect 3-0 record after downing Saint Mary's, 62-53, on Monday afternoon in Tempe, Ariz.
Everyone got involved on the offensive end of things in this one with nine different players recording multiple buckets and four Sun Devils posting at least four baskets.
No one player needed to do the heavy lifting for the Sun Devils, with no players posting double digits in a total team effort. ASU did, however see career highs from Bre'yanna Sanders and Sydnei Caldwell, who – along with Eboni Walker and Taya Hanson – led the Sun Devils with nine points each. Freshmen Jaddan Simmons and Katelyn Levings each had their best scoring outputs with eight and seven points, respectively.
ASU was dominant on the offensive boards, recording 14 offensive rebounds to just five for the Gaels and outscoring Saint Mary's 16-4 in second chance points.
The Sun Devils shot 41 percent from the floor while turning the ball over just 10 times, cutting down on a problem area of the first couple games where ASU had averaged 21.5 turnovers per game.
Iris Mbulito was active early, picking up a steal and showing off some razzle dazzle with a behind-the-back assist before helping her own cause on an ensuing inbound, tossing the ball of a Gael player along the baseline to "assist" her own basket.
ASU's first eight points of the game came off turnovers, a trend for the game as the Sun Devils would go on to outscore the Gaels, 25-6, in the category over the course of the contest.
The Sun Devils ended the first quarter on an 11-4 run, paced by Simmons' team-high six points and an Katelyn Levings three-pointer with time expiring to take a 21-12 lead into the first break.
Saint Mary's cut it to a six-point game early in the second quarter before the Sun Devils ripped off a 12-2 run to take a commanding 35-19 lead and never look back.
Simmons would finish with a team-high eight first-half points, needing just 12:30 minutes of playing time to top her previous game high of seven points. Sanders matched her career high of seven points with half of the second quarter remaining.
Caldwell added six of ASU's final 13 points of the first half and nine of the 11 Sun Devils who saw minutes in the half got on the scoreboard.
ASU was dominant in capitalizing on 12 Gael turnovers in the first half, outpacing SMC 20-1 in points off turnovers while only turning the ball over four times to help it to a 41-29 halftime edge.
The Sun Devils will continue the week with their first conference games of the season as they take on USC in Tempe on Friday, Dec. 4 before welcoming #9 UCLA on Sunday, Dec. 6.
Notes
Everyone got involved on the offensive end of things in this one with nine different players recording multiple buckets and four Sun Devils posting at least four baskets.
No one player needed to do the heavy lifting for the Sun Devils, with no players posting double digits in a total team effort. ASU did, however see career highs from Bre'yanna Sanders and Sydnei Caldwell, who – along with Eboni Walker and Taya Hanson – led the Sun Devils with nine points each. Freshmen Jaddan Simmons and Katelyn Levings each had their best scoring outputs with eight and seven points, respectively.
ASU was dominant on the offensive boards, recording 14 offensive rebounds to just five for the Gaels and outscoring Saint Mary's 16-4 in second chance points.
The Sun Devils shot 41 percent from the floor while turning the ball over just 10 times, cutting down on a problem area of the first couple games where ASU had averaged 21.5 turnovers per game.
Iris Mbulito was active early, picking up a steal and showing off some razzle dazzle with a behind-the-back assist before helping her own cause on an ensuing inbound, tossing the ball of a Gael player along the baseline to "assist" her own basket.
ASU's first eight points of the game came off turnovers, a trend for the game as the Sun Devils would go on to outscore the Gaels, 25-6, in the category over the course of the contest.
The Sun Devils ended the first quarter on an 11-4 run, paced by Simmons' team-high six points and an Katelyn Levings three-pointer with time expiring to take a 21-12 lead into the first break.
Saint Mary's cut it to a six-point game early in the second quarter before the Sun Devils ripped off a 12-2 run to take a commanding 35-19 lead and never look back.
Simmons would finish with a team-high eight first-half points, needing just 12:30 minutes of playing time to top her previous game high of seven points. Sanders matched her career high of seven points with half of the second quarter remaining.
Caldwell added six of ASU's final 13 points of the first half and nine of the 11 Sun Devils who saw minutes in the half got on the scoreboard.
ASU was dominant in capitalizing on 12 Gael turnovers in the first half, outpacing SMC 20-1 in points off turnovers while only turning the ball over four times to help it to a 41-29 halftime edge.
The Sun Devils will continue the week with their first conference games of the season as they take on USC in Tempe on Friday, Dec. 4 before welcoming #9 UCLA on Sunday, Dec. 6.
Notes
- ASU's 21 points in the first quarter were the most in any quarter to date this season. The 20 second-quarter points were the second-most.
- It took ASU three quarters to nearly top its highest scoring output of the early season, having 53 by the end of the third quarter after posting 56 total in the season opener. It had 41 points in the first half alone after recording just 49 total against VCU.
- ASU has only trailed for 42 seconds of the first three games of the season – versus VCU.