Yale may have been the first team to strike Monday night at Wells Fargo Arena, but the Sun Devils surrendered little else.
After going down 4-0 to the Bulldogs (0-2) to open the game, the No. 15 ASU women's basketball team (2-1) answered back with a 34-2 scoring run on their way to an 84-38 win.
"I've been on the other side of that, but I thought our team handled it well and just tried to work hard and get better," ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said.
ASU sophomore guard Dymond Simon had 17 points and three assists during her 21 minutes of action and said she is feeling closer to 100 percent since suffering an ACL rupture that ended her freshman campaign early last season.
"I take every day as a challenge just to get better," Simon said.
Both teams came out flat to begin the first half, with neither team scoring in the first two minutes of action.
Consecutive baskets by Yale freshman forward Mady Gobrecht and sophomore guard/forward Stephanie Colborne ended the scoring drought, giving the Bulldogs the short-lived 4-0 lead.
The Sun Devils got on the board after ASU senior guard Reagan Pariseau drove past several Bulldog defenders for a lay-up off the glass good for two points.
Pariseau's basket began an onslaught of unanswered ASU scores that were complimented by the Sun Devils' tight defense, which gave Yale few shot opportunities.
ASU junior guard Briann January and Simon were the catalysts of the Sun Devils' rampant scoring run, combining for 20 first half points, while also feeding the ball to ASU junior center Kristen Thompson in the low post. Thompson finished with 13 points.
January said she was excited to have her "little friend" Simon back on the court this season.
"I missed her all last year because we had such a good rotation and a transition game when (Simon) was in there," January said. "I've been seeing her in practice doing her thing and I thought she's been back at 100 percent for a while and finally she went out and did her thing."
Yale freshman forward Lindsey Williams showed the first signs of life offensively from the Bulldogs since the start of the game when she scored on two straight possessions, helping her team close the deficit to 43-15 to end the first half.
The second half saw more of the same, as ASU continued to seemingly score at will on the Bulldogs.
Injury Update
All 13 active Sun Devils scored in the win, including Kate Engelbrecht, who scored on her only field goal attempt in 15 minutes, her first action since injuring her hand at the beginning of the season.
Turner Thorne said ASU junior guard Danielle Orsillo had an MRI on her left knee and will likely be out for a month with the bone bruise.
"We're basically hoping that the bone bruise heals itself and after a month we can progress her back," Turner Thorne said.
Sun Devil freshman guard Stephanie Wilbur went down in the second half clutching her left knee in pain, but eventually returned to the game.
Reach the reporter at: devin.hicks@asu.edu.
