After eight days without a game, the No. 19 ASU women’s basketball team extended its winning streak to four games with a 66-49 win over Colorado on Friday night.
The win puts the Sun Devils (17-6, 8-4 Pac-12) in fourth place in the Pac-12.
Senior forward Kianna Ibis and redshirt senior forward Courtney Ekmark combined for 32 points to lead the Sun Devils to victory. Senior center Charnea Johnson-Chapman added eight points and seven rebounds while junior guard Reili Richardson (seven points, six assists) and junior guard Robbi Ryan (six points, three assists) also chipped in offensively.
ASU came out strong on both sides of the ball in the first quarter, holding the Buffaloes to 29 percent from the field and 25 percent from deep. The Sun Devils managed to outscore the Buffaloes in the second quarter as well, despite an uncharacteristic 20 percent long-range performance, going only 1-for-5.
The Sun Devils went on several runs throughout the game, leading Colorado by as much as 22 points. However, ASU struggled to build on those runs and both the players and coach Charli Turner Thorne made it known that they felt a little rusty.
"Well, I think we haven’t played in eight days," Ekmark said. "So we’re definitely just a little bit rusty and we were super eager to play … and now the key for us is when we go on those runs is to keep them and keep the momentum."
And the Sun Devils did just that in the fourth quarter. After the Buffaloes cut the lead down to 11 points, Turner Thorne called a timeout and made sure her team was going to lock in and close out the game.
"We keep having let-ups and she (Turner Thorne) keeps emphasizing every possession matters," Ibis said. "So I think we just kind of looked at each other and we were like 'we need to get this win.'"
The ASU women's basketball team is in the back-end of its season, fighting for Pac-12 seeding and looking for all of the wins it can get.
"We were pretty hungry and I think we still are," Ekmark said. "It’s nice to play two games in a weekend, so we're looking forward to playing Utah on Sunday."
ASU will stay in Tempe to take on Utah on Sunday, Feb. 17 at 2:00 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at amrusse6@asu.edu or follow @alexrussell0706 on Twitter.
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