December 18, 1998
IRVINE, Calif. - Led by a career-high 20 points from sophomore Leaf Newman, the Arizona State women's basketball team downed UC Irvine 71-53 Friday night in front of 386 at the Bren Events Center. ASU improves to 5-2 on the season while UCI falls to 2-5.
After holding a 32-21 lead at the intermission, the Sun Devils opened the second period with a 12-3 run to up their lead to 20 points. The Anteaters never came closer than 13 points the rest of the way. A three-pointer by Michelle Tom at the 9:23-mark helped the Sun Devils regain their 20-point lead.
The Sun Devils virtually shut down UCI point guard Megan Stafford, who came into Friday night's game averaging 19.3 points, holding her to just five points on the night.
ASU took an early 8-0 lead, and then put together a 20-8 run to pull ahead 28-8 with 7:20 left in the first half. Newman and Kitch Kitchen each drained a three-point field goal in the run. However, the Anteaters answered with an 11-4 run the rest of the way and were down by 11 at the break.
A native of nearby Yorba Linda, Calif., freshman Leah Combs scored six of ASU's first eight points on the night. The Sun Devils limited UCI to just 16 attempts in the first half (8-of-16). Newman, from Perris, Calif., notched her career-high scoring night in front of more than 20 family and friends.
In addition to Newman, Cobs reached double figures with a season-high 17 points and seven rebounds and Rachel Holt contributed 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds. ASU was 6-for-12 from three-point range on the night and shot 46.6 percent from the field (27-of-58). The Devils owned a narrow 33-30 edge on the glass, but forced UCI to commit 23 turnovers.
The Sun Devils are back in action Dec. 21, when they take on No. 24 UC Santa Barbara at 8 p.m. MT in the Thunderdome.