(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
The No. 17 Arizona State Sun Devils (8-2) won their sixth straight game on Sunday, topping the Kansas State Wildcats (7-3) 65-51 in the “Battle by the Bluff” in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
ASU was up big by the final horn, but the final score was not a good indicator of how closely contested this game was.
The teams exchanged the lead four times in a back-and-forth first half of action and Kansas State never trailed by more than eight points until the final four minutes of the game.
Senior forward Kianna Ibis had another consistent day for Arizona State. She finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, the latter number tying for the team lead with paint partner Charnea Johnson-Chapman.
Ibis scored the Devils first five points as the two teams combined for 36 points in a fast-paced opening frame. However, the action slowed down in the second as the gritty defensive look that has long defined Charli Turner Thorne’s teams in Tempe took control.
Neither team reached double digits in the scoring column for the quarter, and ASU took a 29-26 lead into the locker room.
The Sun Devils made a number of runs in the game, but were unable to pull away until late in the fourth quarter, with the Wildcats answering the bell each time to cut the lead back down.
Kansas State stars Peyton Williams and Kayla Goth kept the Devils in check with fantastic offensive performances. The top two scorers in the game, Williams would finish with 17 points while Goth had a game-high 19 points.
The Devils did find a bit of breathing room late in the third quarter, gaining a seven-point lead as Courtney Ekmark scored four of her eight total points in the frame, while Sophia Elenga added to her team leading 12 points.
Goth connected on a jumper with 9:20 remaining, slicing the Devil lead to three. But that would be as close as the Wildcats would get, with the Devils holding the lead and eventually pulling away in the final four minutes for their comfortable final margin of victory, 65-51.
Side Notes
The Sun Devils were victorious Sunday despite shooting an abysmal 1-9 from behind the three-point line, and were completely shut out from deep in the first half. The only three-pointer on the day came on a shot from freshman Taya Hanson with 5:32 left in the third quarter.
While Kayla Goth and Peyton Williams were spectacular, they did not get a lot of support, as they outscored their teammates 36-15. The next highest scorer for KSU was Christianna Carr with seven points.
ASU, in a stat that surely has to make Charli Turner Thorne and her staff pleased, only turned it over eight times, while forcing 13 from Kansas State.
The Sun Devils once again proved their worth on the glass, bettering the Wildcats at rebounding 39-31.
Up Next
Arizona State goes for their seventh-straight win against Fresno State at home on Thursday. Following Thursday, the Devils have a ten-day layoff through the holidays. Conference play begins Dec. 30, when ASU travels to Tuscon to take on a resurgent Arizona Wildcat team to wrap up the calendar year.
