Feb. 6, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - Junior Jen Albert scored a career-high 18 points to lead the Arizona State women's basketball team to a 70-52 victory over Washington State Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
With the win, the Sun Devils improved to 13-8 overall and 5-7 in the Pac-10, while Washington State fell to 0-20 and 0-12 in the league. It also marked ASU's 12th straight win over the Cougars and the sixth consecutive season sweep of the visitors from Pullman, Wash.
The Sun Devils took control of the game early in the first half, turning an early 10-6 deficit into a 25-14 lead with 7:38 to play. Arizona State maintained its double-digit lead for the remainder of the half and scored eight of the last 10 points in the half to take a 38-22 halftime lead. The Sun Devils got very balanced scoring in the first half with freshman Kristen Kovesdy and sophomore Kylan Loney each leading the team with seven points and freshman Jill Noe turning in six points and six rebounds.
In the second half, the Sun Devils never allowed the Cougars to get closer than 15 points. The team used a 6-0 run to take its largest lead of the game, going up 59-36 with 10:31 to play. Washington State, which has now lost 44 consecutive games, cut the lead to 17 and then 15, but each time, Albert knocked down a shot, including her second three-pointer of the game with 5:01 to play, to lead the Sun Devils to the 70-52 win.
Arizona State outrebounded Washington State 52-35 in the game and tied its season low with just 14 turnovers in the game.
Albert led all scorers with her career-high 18 points, including 14 in the second half. She knocked down 7-of-8 attempts from the field and also tied her career best with five rebounds in 21 minutes of play. Sophomore Carrie Buckner had 12 points, eight rebounds and two steals, while Noe finished with her fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds and added three steals.
For Washington State, junior Bianca McCall had 17 points and eight rebounds, while junior Holly Harris added 15 points.
Arizona State returns to action Saturday afternoon, taking on No. 20/24 Washington at 1 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. Fox Sports Net will broadcast the game with the Huskies, who lost 79-66 at Arizona on Thursday night, to a live national audience, while the radio broadcast can be heard on ASU's flagship station, NBC 1190 AM, or via the internet at www.thesundevils.com.