Wildcats dominate Sun Devils for first conference victory

(Photo Credit: Steve Rodriguez/Sun Devil Athletics)

The Arizona Wildcats (5-18, 1-11) avenged their 26 point loss to the No. 11 Arizona State Sun Devils (20-4, 9-3) from five days ago with a 68-49 victory in Tucson on Sunday afternoon. The win is Arizona’s first Pac-12 victory this season.

Arizona’s senior forward Erica Barnes led the Wildcat offense in the first half, racking up 10 points in the first 20 minutes. She finished with 14 points, five rebounds and three steals.

Despite shooting just 37.5 percent from the field in the first half, ASU only trailed by four points.

The Wildcats opened the second half on a 15-4 run and never looked back. ASU never came closer than 13 points after the run.

Once again, the offensive end was nightmarish for the Sun Devils. They shot 31.9 percent from the field and committed 20 turnovers for just the second time in conference play (23 turnovers against USC on January 10).

ASU only had one player in double-figures, as redshirt senior guard Deja Mann had 14 points, but also committed four turnovers compared to just one assist.

The Wildcats took advantage of ASU’s sloppy ball handling, scoring 20 points of off turnovers. They also scored 36 points in the paint as compared to 18 from the Sun Devils.

The 19 point loss is ASU’s worst defeat since losing to Stanford by 24 in mid-January, but the Sun Devils have yet to drop back-to-back games. That streak may be in jeopardy, however, as ASU travels to Palo Alto to play the No. 3 Stanford Cardinal on Valentine’s Day, February 14, at 8 p.m.

You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com

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