Nov. 8, 1997
ASU Women's Hoops Outlast Kilsyth in First Exhibition
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Paced by 19 points from senior guard Stephanie Freeman (Austin, Texas) and 17 points from sophomore forward Kristine Sand (Sandvika, Norway), the ASU women's basketball team edged Kilsyth 69-67 Saturday at the University Activity Center.
Sand drained a pair of free throws with 0:10 left to put the Sun Devils ahead 68-67. Kilsyth guard Jo Hoey then committed a turnover and fouled senior guard Rameeka Lowe (Seattle, Wash.), who made it 69-67. ASU outscored the Cobras 43-36 in the second half.
"We had a lot of breakdowns in our half-court defense today, but we are steadily improving," said ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne. "I know we have the ability to play great half-court defense. We gave them some easy buckets, but we found a way to win and that shows a lot of promise for the rest of the season."
The Sun Devils trailed 17-4 just eight minutes into the game, but turned to their pressure defense to help close the gap. ASU went on a 13-2 run to pull within two (19-17) with 5:21 left in the first half. Kilsyth led 31-26 at the half.
Andrea Cartledge led the Australians with 19 points, four assists and four steals.
Freeman was 3-for-6 from three-point range, and added two steals. Sophomore Rachel Holt (Buckeye, Ariz.) paced all rebounders with eight. Junior Rechelle Lang (TeKuiti, New Zealand) contributed seven assists.
Kilsyth shot 54.0 percent compared to ASU's 37.1 percent, but the Sun Devils outrebounded them 48-35.
ASU is back in action Friday, Nov. 14 when it hosts Myjava (Slovakia) in its final exhibition game. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in the UAC.