SAN FRANCISCO – Despite a game-high 27 points from Tyi Skinner, the Sun Devil women's basketball team was unable to come away with a split on its road trip to Northern California after being edged by San Francisco, 67-64, on Tuesday.
For the second time this season, Skinner came within one 3-pointer of tying the single-game school record after knocking down six vs. the Dons. Jyah LoVett scored 14 points, Kennedy Fauntleroy added 12 and Kennedy Basham just missed a double-figure scoring game with nine points.
Basham had a strong presence in the paint on the defensive end with a career-high seven blocks to go with seven rebounds. For the second straight game, Heavenly Greer had a season high on the boards, ending the game with eight. Also turning in a strong game on the defensive end was Fauntleroy, who had a career-high six steals.
The difference in the game was at the free throw line, not in accuracy – ASU made 82 percent of its attempts and San Francisco made 83 percent – but in the number of opportunities. By game's end, the Dons had more than three times as many attempts (29-35) as the Sun Devils (9-11).
The other side of the double-edged sword was the foul trouble the Sun Devils had to deal with as one player fouled out and four other players had four fouls at the end of the game..
After getting off to a slow start, it appeared the Sun Devils (5-6) found their groove, outscoring the Dons 37-22 in the second and third quarters to turn a nine-point deficit into a 48-42 lead entering the fourth quarter.
ASU was unable to continue its trend of success as it missed six of its first seven shots to start the final 10 minutes. On the strength of a 9-2 run, the Dons went ahead 51-50 with 4:41 remaining.
A 5-0 burst by the Sun Devils gave them a four-point lead (55-51) after Skinner's 3-pointer with 3:43 left.
The two teams went back and forth, eventually arriving at a 57-57 tie with 1:09 remaining.
By scoring seven of the game's next eight points, the momentum suddenly swung in San Francisco's way.
Down by six with 20 seconds left, Skinner willed the Sun Devils back within striking distance after knocking down a pair of shots from long distance, the second of which cut the Dons' lead to single point, 65-64 with 4.8 seconds left.
The Dons responded with a pair of free throws to reclaim a 3-point advantage.
Skinner attempted to tie the game and force overtime but was not able to get a quality look after having to dribble from one end to the other with San Francisco players trying to slow her along the way.
Tuesday's game was the sixth of seven games in which ASU is on the road for a neutral site contest or as the away team in a true road game. The Sun Devils will conclude the arduous stretch on Saturday (4 p.m. MST) when they play their third road game in six days at Utah in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
For the second time this season, Skinner came within one 3-pointer of tying the single-game school record after knocking down six vs. the Dons. Jyah LoVett scored 14 points, Kennedy Fauntleroy added 12 and Kennedy Basham just missed a double-figure scoring game with nine points.
Basham had a strong presence in the paint on the defensive end with a career-high seven blocks to go with seven rebounds. For the second straight game, Heavenly Greer had a season high on the boards, ending the game with eight. Also turning in a strong game on the defensive end was Fauntleroy, who had a career-high six steals.
The difference in the game was at the free throw line, not in accuracy – ASU made 82 percent of its attempts and San Francisco made 83 percent – but in the number of opportunities. By game's end, the Dons had more than three times as many attempts (29-35) as the Sun Devils (9-11).
The other side of the double-edged sword was the foul trouble the Sun Devils had to deal with as one player fouled out and four other players had four fouls at the end of the game..
After getting off to a slow start, it appeared the Sun Devils (5-6) found their groove, outscoring the Dons 37-22 in the second and third quarters to turn a nine-point deficit into a 48-42 lead entering the fourth quarter.
ASU was unable to continue its trend of success as it missed six of its first seven shots to start the final 10 minutes. On the strength of a 9-2 run, the Dons went ahead 51-50 with 4:41 remaining.
A 5-0 burst by the Sun Devils gave them a four-point lead (55-51) after Skinner's 3-pointer with 3:43 left.
The two teams went back and forth, eventually arriving at a 57-57 tie with 1:09 remaining.
By scoring seven of the game's next eight points, the momentum suddenly swung in San Francisco's way.
Down by six with 20 seconds left, Skinner willed the Sun Devils back within striking distance after knocking down a pair of shots from long distance, the second of which cut the Dons' lead to single point, 65-64 with 4.8 seconds left.
The Dons responded with a pair of free throws to reclaim a 3-point advantage.
Skinner attempted to tie the game and force overtime but was not able to get a quality look after having to dribble from one end to the other with San Francisco players trying to slow her along the way.
Tuesday's game was the sixth of seven games in which ASU is on the road for a neutral site contest or as the away team in a true road game. The Sun Devils will conclude the arduous stretch on Saturday (4 p.m. MST) when they play their third road game in six days at Utah in the Big 12 opener for both teams.