Sunday, January 21
Tempe, Ariz.
2:00 PM
Colorado
11-8, 2-6
59
at
73
Arizona State
14-6, 5-3
1
2
3
4
F
Colorado
9
17
17
16
59
Arizona State
20
13
16
24
73
Photo by: Jeremy Cannon
No. 22 Arizona State Holds Off Buffs, 73-59
January 21, 2018 | Women's Basketball
TEMPE, Ariz. – No. 22/25 Arizona State held on for a 73-59 win over Colorado on Sunday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena. The Buffs dropped to 11-8 overall and 2-6 in the Pac-12, while ASU snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 14-6 and 5-3.
STAT LEADERS: Kennedy Leonard led the Buffs with 23 points and added six assists as she shot 8-for-19 from the floor. Zoe Correal provided 10 points and made 5-of-6 shots.
Peyton Carter and Mya Hollingshed both provided energy off the bench and contributed to several big runs in the game. Carter finished with eight points and two assists in a season-high 23 minutes. Hollingshed had seven points and seven rebounds.
ASU was led by Kianna Ibis, who scored a game-high 24 points. Courtney Ekmark added 16 points and Charnea Johnson-Chapman had 12 rebounds to go with two points.
HOW IT HAPPENED: ASU jumped out in front of CU, scoring the first six points of the game. A Robinson 3-pointer and layup by Correal cut the Sun Devils' lead to 11-9 midway through the first quarter. But they closed the period on a 9-0 run and took a 20-9 lead into the second quarter.
CU trailed 24-10 midway through the second quarter, but this time it was the Buffs finishing the quarter strong. Carter sparked a 14-6 run late in the quarter, bringing CU within six points. She buried a 3-pointer at 5:33 and then hit a pair of free throws at 3:55. Leonard capped the run with a layup and two free throws.
The Sun Devils ultimately took a 33-26 lead into halftime after sinking a late 3-pointer. They enjoyed a 22-15 edge on the boards in the first half, including 14 offensive rebounds.
A 12-4 ASU run opened a 47-32 lead with 3:25 left in the third quarter for the Sun Devils. Carter again sparked a comeback, burying a 3-pointer and assisting on the next basket as the Buffs scored nine consecutive points to close the deficit to 47-41 with 14 seconds left. Leonard then hit a long jumper at the buzzer to bring CU within 49-43 at the end of the third quarter.
Arizona State built a 12-point lead early in the fourth, but three straight layups by Leonard and Robinson quickly cut the deficit back to six at 56-50 with 5:38 to play.
That was as close as the Buffs would get the rest of the game.
KEY STATISTICS: With CU playing without its starting post player Janea Bunn, the Sun Devils took advantage on the boards and outrebounded CU 40-25. That overshadowed a solid offensive game by the Buffs as they hit at 45.1 percent from the floor and 8-of-10 at the free throw line. They also committed just 10 turnovers, matching a season low.
NOTES: It was CU's eighth consecutive loss to Arizona State ... Carter played a career-high 23 minutes, including the majority of the second half ... Leonard had her 21st career game with over 20 points, and her fourth this season ... Correal scored in double figures for the third time this season.
UP NEXT: CU returns home next weekend and hosts No. 7/6 Oregon on Friday at 8 p.m. and No. 18/19 Oregon State on Sunday at 2 p.m.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
JR Payne, head coach
On the game
"I thought we played really hard, I thought we executed an offensive game plan that was better against Arizona State. Our offense was good, we just didn't rebound as well as we needed to tonight."
On getting outrebounded by 15
"The essentials of boxing out, you're no longer the tallest kid in the gym who can put their hands up and get the ball, but we gave up 14 offensive rebounds in the first half and just three in the second half, so our effort was better."
On Peyton Carter's performance
"Coming into this game, we knew what Peyton could give us. She exudes calm for a young kid, she doesn't get flustered and against Arizona State's defense. It's typically high pressure, so we knew if we needed it she could give us some calm. Kennedy was scoring the ball well early in the first half, so we thought we could bring Peyton in, keep the calm, move Ken over to the wing and it proved to be a pretty good thing for us offensively.
On Alexis Robinson
"Alexis got a couple good looks. She took some, she took the ball to the basket, which was good to see. She thrives on getting an open look or two early and they obviously were keying on her."
On what the team needs to work on
"Every game's been different so far, but what can't be different is our rebounding. I don't expect to outrebound everybody in this conference every night, but we can't be so lopsided. We can't be plus 15 one night and minus 15 the next night. That's just consistency of boxing out on our side."
On Oregon and Oregon State coming to Boulder next weekend
"It doesn't get any easier with Oregon and Oregon State coming in. I do think the biggest thing is we have to be able to box out. We talk about it in practice. Some of us do it consistently, some of us can be better, being consistent with that as a staff. We have to set rebounding goals in practice and there has to be some level of confidence of knowing, "If I box out, success will come to me. If I don't box out, we're doomed." That's really it. Seventeen offensive rebounds. That was the game in the first half. We did a good job of contesting shots, we got some shots we wanted, but we didn't end the play and they made us pay for it. I think that has to be our focus this week, especially with two really good rebounding teams coming to Coors this week."
STAT LEADERS: Kennedy Leonard led the Buffs with 23 points and added six assists as she shot 8-for-19 from the floor. Zoe Correal provided 10 points and made 5-of-6 shots.
Peyton Carter and Mya Hollingshed both provided energy off the bench and contributed to several big runs in the game. Carter finished with eight points and two assists in a season-high 23 minutes. Hollingshed had seven points and seven rebounds.
ASU was led by Kianna Ibis, who scored a game-high 24 points. Courtney Ekmark added 16 points and Charnea Johnson-Chapman had 12 rebounds to go with two points.
HOW IT HAPPENED: ASU jumped out in front of CU, scoring the first six points of the game. A Robinson 3-pointer and layup by Correal cut the Sun Devils' lead to 11-9 midway through the first quarter. But they closed the period on a 9-0 run and took a 20-9 lead into the second quarter.
CU trailed 24-10 midway through the second quarter, but this time it was the Buffs finishing the quarter strong. Carter sparked a 14-6 run late in the quarter, bringing CU within six points. She buried a 3-pointer at 5:33 and then hit a pair of free throws at 3:55. Leonard capped the run with a layup and two free throws.
The Sun Devils ultimately took a 33-26 lead into halftime after sinking a late 3-pointer. They enjoyed a 22-15 edge on the boards in the first half, including 14 offensive rebounds.
A 12-4 ASU run opened a 47-32 lead with 3:25 left in the third quarter for the Sun Devils. Carter again sparked a comeback, burying a 3-pointer and assisting on the next basket as the Buffs scored nine consecutive points to close the deficit to 47-41 with 14 seconds left. Leonard then hit a long jumper at the buzzer to bring CU within 49-43 at the end of the third quarter.
Arizona State built a 12-point lead early in the fourth, but three straight layups by Leonard and Robinson quickly cut the deficit back to six at 56-50 with 5:38 to play.
That was as close as the Buffs would get the rest of the game.
KEY STATISTICS: With CU playing without its starting post player Janea Bunn, the Sun Devils took advantage on the boards and outrebounded CU 40-25. That overshadowed a solid offensive game by the Buffs as they hit at 45.1 percent from the floor and 8-of-10 at the free throw line. They also committed just 10 turnovers, matching a season low.
NOTES: It was CU's eighth consecutive loss to Arizona State ... Carter played a career-high 23 minutes, including the majority of the second half ... Leonard had her 21st career game with over 20 points, and her fourth this season ... Correal scored in double figures for the third time this season.
UP NEXT: CU returns home next weekend and hosts No. 7/6 Oregon on Friday at 8 p.m. and No. 18/19 Oregon State on Sunday at 2 p.m.
POSTGAME QUOTES:
JR Payne, head coach
On the game
"I thought we played really hard, I thought we executed an offensive game plan that was better against Arizona State. Our offense was good, we just didn't rebound as well as we needed to tonight."
On getting outrebounded by 15
"The essentials of boxing out, you're no longer the tallest kid in the gym who can put their hands up and get the ball, but we gave up 14 offensive rebounds in the first half and just three in the second half, so our effort was better."
On Peyton Carter's performance
"Coming into this game, we knew what Peyton could give us. She exudes calm for a young kid, she doesn't get flustered and against Arizona State's defense. It's typically high pressure, so we knew if we needed it she could give us some calm. Kennedy was scoring the ball well early in the first half, so we thought we could bring Peyton in, keep the calm, move Ken over to the wing and it proved to be a pretty good thing for us offensively.
On Alexis Robinson
"Alexis got a couple good looks. She took some, she took the ball to the basket, which was good to see. She thrives on getting an open look or two early and they obviously were keying on her."
On what the team needs to work on
"Every game's been different so far, but what can't be different is our rebounding. I don't expect to outrebound everybody in this conference every night, but we can't be so lopsided. We can't be plus 15 one night and minus 15 the next night. That's just consistency of boxing out on our side."
On Oregon and Oregon State coming to Boulder next weekend
"It doesn't get any easier with Oregon and Oregon State coming in. I do think the biggest thing is we have to be able to box out. We talk about it in practice. Some of us do it consistently, some of us can be better, being consistent with that as a staff. We have to set rebounding goals in practice and there has to be some level of confidence of knowing, "If I box out, success will come to me. If I don't box out, we're doomed." That's really it. Seventeen offensive rebounds. That was the game in the first half. We did a good job of contesting shots, we got some shots we wanted, but we didn't end the play and they made us pay for it. I think that has to be our focus this week, especially with two really good rebounding teams coming to Coors this week."
Team Stats
COLO
ASU
FG%
.451
.450
3FG%
.278
.333
FT%
.800
.667
RB
25
40
TO
10
10
STL
3
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
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