Nov. 25, 2002
TEMPE, Ariz. - Freshman Kristen Kovesdy turned in her first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Arizona State women's basketball team to a 70-62 victory over Northern Illinois Monday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
With the victory, ASU improved to 2-0 on the season for the fifth consecutive year and won their 10th straight home game in a streak dating back to last season.
Arizona State came out strong in the first half, opening with a 7-2 run. Sophomore Carrie Buckner scored the Sun Devils' first six points. The Sun Devils led by as many as 11 points late in the first half. ASU led 33-22 with 3:43 left in the half when Northern Illinois (1-1) went on a 9-0 run to cut it to 33-31 with 49 seconds left. Junior Jen Albert knocked down a three-pointer with 20 seconds left, but Northern Illinois answered with a trey to cut ASU's halftime lead to 36-34. Buckner had 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and four rebounds in the first half, while Kovesdy pulled down seven rebounds.
The Sun Devils scored the first five points of the second half to go up 41-34 over the first 56 seconds, but the Huskies tallied the next eight points to take their first lead of the night, going up 42-41 with 17:08 left to play. The Huskies went up by two points, 49-47, on a three-pointer by freshman Joi Scott with 15:17 to play, but the Sun Devils answered with a 10-0 run to regain a 57-49 lead with 10:07 to play. Northern Illinois got within one point twice down the stretch, but ASU knocked down 11 of 14 free throw attempts over the final 4:55 to take home the 70-62 victory.
Kovesdy came off the bench to lead the Sun Devils with19 points and 10 rebounds, knocking down all four of her attempts from the field and 11 of 13 free throws. Three other Sun Devils scored in double figures including Buckner who turned in a career high for scoring for the second straight game with 14 points and also added nine rebounds. Freshman Jill Noe had 13 points, while freshman Amy Denson added 11 points and five rebounds. Junior Iman Young turned in a team-best four assists.
For the Huskies, junior Stephanie Smith led all scorers with 20 points, while senior Kristan Knake had 16 points. Senior Kim Boeding led the team with seven rebounds.
The Sun Devils return to action Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29-30, playing host to the Wells Fargo Holiday Classic. Arizona State will take on Portland State at 6 p.m. on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena, while Oklahoma State and Wisconsin-Milwaukee will play in the nightcap. On Saturday, the consolation game starts at 4 p.m., while the championship game will tip off at approximately 6 p.m.
For tickets, call the Arizona State ticket office at (480) 965-2381 or log onto the official web site of Arizona State athletics at www.thesundevils.com.