The No. 21 ASU women’s basketball team recovered from consecutive losses with a 66-54 upset win over No. 9 Oregon State.
Senior forward Kianna Ibis led the Sun Devils with 20 points and eight rebounds, shooting eight of twelve from the field.
Freshman forward Iris Mbulito scored ten points in ten minutes off the bench.
Senior center Charnea Johnson-Chapman scored six points and grabbed twelve rebounds for the Sun Devils, five being in the offensive glass.
Eight Sun Devils scored at least four points each as the team shot 46 percent from the field overall.
ASU’s defense was suffocating for Oregon State, especially in the third quarter. The Beavers failed to record a point for the first five minutes of the third quarter as the Sun Devils went on a 13-0 run.
This included two charges drawn by ASU which brought more energy to an already electric run.
“Charges are huge momentum plays,” head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “Any time we can get points in the paint and draw charges, that’s impactful.”
Oregon State’s leading scorer, redshirt sophomore guard Destiny Slocum, was held to just three points, the lowest point total she has recorded this year.
Slocum got into foul trouble in the first half and eventually fouled out in the fourth quarter. She missed all five of her field goal attempts.
“She’s definitely a key player on their team,” Ibis said. “When it comes to having her sit out the first half, we tried to take that to our advantage.”
The Sun Devils also forced Oregon State into 13 turnovers, turning those opportunities into 23 points.
Ahead of Ibis’ and Chapman’s final home game of their collegiate careers, Ibis said the most important thing is letting the rest of her team know that she is there to compete.
“Just letting the team know we’re giving our all for them,” Ibis said. “Just helping them grow into people that are better than what they are this year.”
The Sun Devils will take on No. 6 Oregon on Sunday at 1 p.m. MST, the final home game of the season for ASU.
Reach the reporter at jhorst2@asu.edu and follow @HorseySeven on Twitter.
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Jeffrey Horst is the digital editor-in-chief of The State Press. He previously served as the publication's sports editor and worked at Cronkite News and ArizonaSports.com.
