Arizona routs Arizona State women's basketball in Tempe
It looked like the rivalry game brought out a close competition between the Arizona State and Arizona’s women’s basketball teams, but an energetic start by the Sun Devils eventually wore off as Arizona surged into total control.
The Wildcats proved to be too much for the Sun Devils offensively and defensively, as Arizona routed the Sun Devils 91-52 on Sunday at Desert Financial Arena.
The first quarter started as a back-and-forth affair with the Sun Devils staying within striking distance, but once the Wildcats called for a timeout at 4:53 with a 9-8 lead, it became a different story.
Guard Kailyn Gilbert, who didn’t take a shot in the first five minutes, broke out with six points on 3-for-3 shooting and assisted on Helena Pueyo’s 3-pointer for a 13-10 lead. The Wildcats went on to hit seven of the last eight shots in the first quarter, while ASU only hit two of the last eight.
ASU had a hard time defending the Wildcats from the 3-point line early on as the Wildcats shot 81.8% on 9-of-11. Arizona finished shooting 65% from the 3, going 13-for-20.
"Not the outcome we wanted. We just talked with our group about consistency and effort," ASU head coach Natasha Adair said. "There are things we have to continue to work on and improve, and we have another opportunity to get them at their place."
Key moments
ASU couldn’t find a response in the second quarter and was overwhelmed on the transition, surrendering 11 fastbreak points. The Sun Devils were held to eight points, while the Wildcats were clicking with 28 points on 11-for-15 shooting (73.3%).
ASU was able to capitalize on Arizona’s mistakes in the third quarter, outscoring the Wildcats 11-4 down the stretch. The Wildcats lacked their sharpness from the first half, committing four turnovers and going 0-for-7 from the floor.
Arizona broke out of its slump in the fourth quarter, quickly building a 10-0 run over one minute and only allowed ASU's offense to break out in the final minutes when most of the starting five was resting.
Top performers
ASU guards Jalyn Brown and Trayanna Crisp were the driving force for the Sun Devils, scoring 10 of the team's 13 points in the quarter.
Brown led with 19 points and helped jumpstart a sluggish ASU offense in the second half. At the end of the third quarter, Brown went coast to coast for ASU’s fifth layup of the game.
Arizona had five players finish with double-figures, including Kailyn Gilbert, who led with 19 points. Helena Pueyo went 5-for-6 from the 3 and had 18 points.
They said it
"They were a team who were very foul prone, so making sure we attack them and get them in as much foul trouble as possible, so we can get easier free throws." — ASU guard Jalyn Brown on scoring six of the 13 points in the third quarter.
"I think you take away that you can't take a possession off, you can't take away that every team in this league top to bottom is a Top-25 team, even if they're not listed as Top-25. In the last year of the Pac-12, everyone wants to win, us included. I think it's about us continuing to get better and having two games to prepare us before conference play." — ASU head coach Natasha Adair on what the first conference game taught her team.
Up next for ASU
ASU (7-4, 0-1) will face Fresno State at Footprint Center on Wednesday at noon in the Jerry Colangelo Classic. The Sun Devils will take a holiday break before hosting Santa Clara on Dec. 30 at 1 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona routs Arizona State women's basketball in Tempe
