Dec. 23, 2001
TEMPE, Ariz. - Four Sun Devils scored in double figures for the first time this season as the Arizona State women's basketball team posted its first Pac-10 victory of the year, downing Cal 63-49 Sunday morning at Wells Fargo Arena.
ASU improved to 10-3 on the year and 1-1 in the Pac-10 with the victory, while Cal falls to 4-5 overall and 0-2 in the league. The win also gave Arizona State head coach Charli Turner Thorne her 75th win at ASU, while the Sun Devil mentor is tied with Maura McHugh for second place in all-time wins at ASU with a 75-79 record in five-plus seasons in Tempe.
Cal took an early lead in the game, going up by four points on two occasions and taking a 12-8 lead with 12:19 to play in the half, but ASU answered with a 9-0 run which put the Sun Devils up 17-12 with 8:18 remaining in the half. ASU went ahead by as many as nine points in the first half and led 31-22 at halftime on the strength of eight points from senior Cian Carvalho and seven for senior Amanda Levens.
In the second half, ASU quickly increased its lead to double digits, going up 42-26 with 17:31 on a steal and layup by Levens. Cal pulled within nine points twice in the next two and a half minutes, but ASU closed out the victory with an 8-0 run to go up by 16 points. The Sun Devils led by as many as 19 points in the waning minutes of the game before coming away with the 63-49 win.
Levens led the Sun Devils in scoring for the 11th time this year with 16 points, while freshman Carrie Buckner, sophomore Betsy Boardman and Carvalho each contributed 12 points in the victory. Buckner and Boardman each turned in season highs in scoring, while Buckner also grabbed a career-best nine rebounds and dished out a career-best two assists.
Cal senior Ami Forney posted her second double-double of the year to lead the Golden Bears with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Arizona State takes a week off for the holidays and returns to action Sunday, Dec. 30, taking on intrastate rival Arizona at 2 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.