Jan. 26, 2008
PULLMAN, Wash. - Jill Noe connected on her first five field goal attempts and scored 13 points and Lauren Lacey added 11 points as Arizona State defeated Washington State 59-40 on Saturday.
Noe, who came into Saturday's game shooting a little more than 21 percent in Pac-10 play, missed only one shot on the afternoon as she finished the game 5-of-6 from the field, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
After trailing by as many as 11 in the first half, Washington State used a 12-7 run over the last 6:09 of the first stanza to get within six points, 30-24, at the half. A layup by Jasmine Williams 20 seconds into the second half had the Cougars within four points before the Sun Devils (13-7, 7-2 Pac-10) went on a 19-4 run to take control of the game. Seven different Sun Devils scored field goals during the scoring run which spanned almost nine minutes.
The Cougars (3-17, 0-9 Pac-10) would get no closer than 15 points the rest of the way as ASU's defense held them to only 16 points in the second half. A pair of free throws by Becca Tobin gave the Sun Devils their largest lead, 59-38, with 1:49 left.
Overall the Sun Devils limited Washington State to convert only 31 percent of its field goal attempts, including a scant seven percent (1-14) from three-point range.
ASU had a plus-21 advantage in rebounding (47-26) led by juniors Sybil Dosty and Kate Engelbrecht, who had seven apiece. The seven boards was a career best for the latter.
With the win the Sun Devils closed out the first round of conference play tied with Stanford for second place and one game behind front running Cal, which was defeated by Stanford on Saturday.
The Sun Devils start the second round of conference play on Thursday when they host Oregon State. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. from Wells Fargo Arena.