Jan. 4, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - Sophomore Kylan Loney knocked down five three-pointers for a career-high 21 points to lead the Arizona State women's basketball team to a 78-63 victory over Oregon Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
The win marked the 100th victory of head coach Charli Turner Thorne's Arizona State career and improved the Sun Devils to 10-3 overall and 2-2 in the Pac-10 on the year. Turner Thorne is now 100-89 in her seven years at Arizona State. Oregon fell to 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the league.
Arizona State took the early lead in the game, going up 14-5 when Loney hit the first of her career-best five three-pointers with 12:35 to play in the first half. Oregon narrowed that gap to two a minute later, but ASU answered with an 8-2 run to go up 22-14 with 8:24 to play. The Ducks tied the game at 24 with 5:24 to play in the half, but Loney nailed two more treys over the final five minutes of the half to help ASU a 40-32 halftime lead.
Loney had 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting in the first half to lead the Sun Devils. Sophomore Carrie Buckner turned in a solid first half with eight points, five rebounds, five steals and two assists while taking on the tough defensive assignment of keeping the Ducks' leading scorer, sophomore Brandi Davis, in check.
In the second half, ASU stretched its lead to double figures on the first possession when freshman Amy Denson stole the ball from Oregon's Kayla Steen, and freshman Jill Noe dished to Loney who hit her fourth trey of the game to make it 43-32 with 19:37 to play. The Ducks cut the lead to seven midway through the second half, but the Sun Devils knocked down 14-of-15 free throws, including all six of their attempts over the five 5:24, to come away with the 78-63 victory.
Loney led all scorers with her career-high 21 points, knocking down 8-of-15 from the field including 5-of-9 attempts from three-point land. Noe turned in 19 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals, while Buckner finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, five steals and two assists. Freshman Kristen Kovesdy added 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds.
For Oregon, Davis led three Ducks in double figures with 15 points, while sophomore Andrea Bills chipped in with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Arizona State returns to the road next week where the team has played four of its last six games, traveling to Washington on Thursday, Jan. 9 and Washington State on Saturday, Jan. 11. Tip-off for both games will be at 8 p.m. Mountain Time (7 p.m. Pacific).
All of ASU's games can be heard locally on KUET 710 AM or via the internet at www.thesundevils.com.