Elisha Davis and Sophie Brunner combined for 31 points and 12 steals as No. 8 Arizona State would defeat the in-state rival Arizona women’s basketball team 61-49 on Friday at the Wells Fargo Arena.
Arizona State remains perfect in Pac-12 play with a 7-0 conference record and a 15-3 overall record, while Arizona drops to 11-8 overall and 2-5 in the conference. The Wildcats have lost four of their last five games.
While they lost, the Wildcats were competitive for most of the game against the top-ten Sun Devils.
In the first six minutes, the two teams would match each other step-for-step and would be tied at nine.
The Sun Devils would then take a 14-9 lead after a three by Davis and a lay in by Brunner with about three minutes left in the quarter.
But the lead wouldn’t last for very long as the Wildcats would respond with a 9-0 run, thanks in part to five points by Malena Washington, to take an 18-14 lead with just 37 seconds left in the quarter. Washington would score a team-high 14 points.
Before the quarter ended, however, Davis would hit another three to make it a one-point game heading into the second quarter. Davis finished with a team-best 16 points in the game.
ASU would then score the first five points of the second quarter to take a 22-18 lead, but Arizona would ultimately tie things back up at 24 after baskets by three different Wildcats – Washington, Keyahndra Cannon, and Brianna Workman, and eventually things would be knotted up at 26 at halftime.
Workman would score 13 points and lead the Wildcats in rebounding with seven boards, while Cannon had six points and four rebounds.
The two teams combined for just 17 points in what was a turnover-filled second quarter for both sides.
In the second half, the Wildcats’ carelessness with the ball continued. Davis and Brunner were hounding Arizona’s ball handlers, and the Wildcats would finish with 27 turnovers, 14 of which would come in the second half.
The Sun Devils would finish with 28 points off turnovers, and ultimately it would allow them to create some space in the second half.
A three-pointer by Peace Amukamara would put the Sun Devils up 46-40 with 37 seconds left in the half, then a steal by Brunner would allow her to draw a foul and head to the line with just three seconds left. Brunner, who had seven steals in the game, would hit one of two free throws and ASU would be up 47-40 going into the fourth.
Aside from turnovers, the Wildcats also had issues defending without fouling. The Sun Devils were in the bonus with still five minutes left to go in the third, and eight of their 21 third-quarter points came from the free throw line.
Regardless, the Wildcats were still in the game, but the Sun Devils would finally pull away early in the fourth quarter. Davis started the quarter off with a three to put ASU up 10, its biggest lead of the game at the time, and its lead would continue to grow as Arizona scored just three points in the first nine minutes of the quarter.
LaBrittney Jones would hit back-to-back threes in the final minute, but by then it was too little too late as the Sun Devils would win comfortably by double-digits.
Jones was coming off two double-figure scoring games against Utah and Colorado, but she was unable to continue that trend, as she finished with only eight points and four rebounds in 30 minutes.
Arizona State has now won nine of the last ten games between these two schools, and they’ll match up once again on Sunday, but this time at McKale Center in Tucson.
Tipoff is at 5 pm.
