ASU women’s basketball continued their hot start to the season with a 106-58 victory over the Sacramento State Hornets in Tempe.
This is the first time the Sun Devils scored over 100 points since 2005, winning 103-57 over Memphis.
The Sun Devils faced some tough defensive pressure from the Hornets throughout the game. That didn’t stop the Sun Devils though, as they scored 48 points in the paint.
Head coach Charli Turner-Thorne said it was a good team win and it was a slow start in the first quarter. The team picked up their defense and overall intensity.
“I’m really proud of our team's effort,” Turner-Thorne said. “We played last Sunday, Wednesday on the road and now this Saturday, so that’s three games in one week.”
Sophomore Robbi Ryan came off the bench and her presence was felt. She finished with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists.
“I’m just really proud of our team,” Ryan said. “We play together and keep pushing no matter who we play against, there’s always things to take away from wins so that’s what we’ve been trying to do.”
Turner-Thorne said that Ryan has elevated every part of her game and her reads have continued to improve in the last month.
Seeing the court all afternoon, the Sun Devils finished with 31 assists and only falling six shy from the school-record set back in 1992.
“We knew they (Sacramento State) would come out punching,” Turner-Thorne said. “Our team might believe that they if their hands were down at all they would shoot in their face and make it.”
The Hornets' aggressive defense brought open opportunities for the Sun Devils, as they attacked the paint. The Sun Devils went to the line 37 times and converted 28 of those opportunities.
The defensive presence was felt all afternoon as the Hornets turned the ball over 21 times and shot 34.9 percent from the field. The Sun Devils shot 54.7 percent and finished with 24 points off turnovers.
ASU will play their fourth game of the week on Sunday against Colgate (2-1) at 3 p.m. in Tempe.
Reach the reporter at sbemanue@asu.edu or follow @SebastianEman24 on Twitter.
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