AMES, Iowa – The Sun Devil Women’s Basketball team was unable to make it consecutive road wins in Big 12 play following a 90-64 setback at Iowa State on Wednesday.
The Sun Devils (21-7, 8-7 Big 12) came into the game tied with the Cyclones (21-6, 9-6) for seventh place in the Big 12 standings. With Wednesday’s loss, the Sun Devils fell into a three-way tie for eighth place with Utah (17-10, 8-7, ASU swept Utah this season) and Kansas State (15-13, 8-7, KSU won the only meeting of the season with ASU). All 16 Big 12 teams have three games remaining in the regular season.
Sun Devil standouts
- Coming off her 24-point effort that helped lead ASU to a 75-69 overtime win at Arizona, McKinna Brackens led ASU with 21 points at Iowa State. Named to the Big 12’s Starting Five as one of its Top Performers on Tuesday, Brackens also tied a career high with 10 made field goals and led ASU with two steals.
- Gabby Elliott scored nine points, led ASU with seven rebounds and tied for the team lead in assists with three.
- Amaya Williams led ASU’s bench scoring with nine points, including a perfect 5-for-5 performance at the free-throw line.
- Marley Washenitz scored six points, had five rebounds (led team with three offensive boards) and tied Elliott for the team lead in assists (three).
- Deborah Davenport scored seven points, grabbed six boards and tied her career high with three blocks.
How it happened
- The Sun Devils shot only 36 percent for the game while the Cyclones made 53 percent of their attempts, including half of the 16 that were attempted from behind the arc.
- For the fourth straight game, the Sun Devils made six or more 3-pointers.
- ASU also continued to shoot well from the free throw line, making 87.5 percent of its 16 attempts, the sixth time in the last eight games it has shot 75 percent or higher from the line.
- After the Cyclones jumped out to a 12-6 lead, ASU came back with six straight points to tie the game. Iowa State eventually built its lead back to six by the end of the first quarter, 21-15. Brackens made all five of her shots to lead ASU with 10 points.
- Trailing 26-18, Last-Tear Poa and Brackens made consecutive 3-pointers to get ASU within two points.
- The last of Brackens’ 19 points in the first half, also the last points of the half for ASU, made it a five-point game with 2:43 remaining. The Cyclones scored the last five points of the half to take their first double-digit lead at the break, 42-32.
- After trailing by as many as 12 twice in the first 63 seconds of the second half, ASU got within seven after a 3-pointer by Washenitz made it a seven-point game, 50-43, midway through the third quarter.
- The next eight minutes of game time depicted what just about every team experiences – both for better and worse – at one time or another. The Sun Devils endured a cold spell in which they missed their next 10 shots. During those same eight minutes, the Cyclones made 11 of their 15 attempts from the floor, including four 3-pointers.
- Despite the deficit it faced, ASU continued to play hard, scoring the game’s next 12 points. Williams scored all nine of her points in the final quarter to lead the Sun Devils.
Up next
The Sun Devils will try and make it 15 wins in 16 home games when they host Houston on Saturday at 2 p.m. Join us as we celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports as well as our Sun Devil Women’s Basketball Alumni with a day filled with honoring athletes, staff, leaders and role models who make an impact every day.
Pre-game activities include:
- Sports Equipment Drive: We are collecting equipment for all sports, including basketball, soccer balls, footballs, equipment bags, baseball and softball equipment and more! Note: Anyone who donates will get 2 complimentary tickets to ASU’s final home game of the season vs. BYU on Feb. 25!
- 50th anniversary keychain giveaway
- Face painting
- The Golden Grannies will welcome fans at the East Entrance as doors open — arrive early to catch the fun!
- Pep Rally Party at the Arboretum
To purchase tickets for Saturday’s game, visit www.TheSunDevils.com.