Skip to main content

Sun Devils drop home contest to Southern Cal


January 06, 2012

The Arizona State University women’s basketball team suffered just its third loss of the season and first in Pac-12 conference play as it fell, 60-48, on Thursday evening at Wells Fargo Arena. 

Kimberly Brandon and Adrianne Thomas both scored seven points to lead the Sun Devils, who shot just .298 from the field in the contest.  

Senior guard Ashley Corral led the way for the Trojans (7-6, 2-1 Pac-12), scoring over a third of the team’s points with her 21-point effort – including 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. 

Arizona State’s bench outscored USC’s 20-6 and dominated the paint with a 20-10 advantage, but the Trojans hot shooting in the second half proved to be too much as ASU (10-3, 1-1 Pac-12) struggled to make its own shots down the stretch. 

USC used a 7-0 run midway through the second half to jump ahead, 42-37, after falling behind by six early in the half.  Southern Cal rode the shooting of Corral, who scored 13 of her 21 points in the second half.  

The Sun Devils brought the score back within three on a Janae Fulcher free throw with 8:15 left in the half, bringing the score to 44-41.  The Trojans began to heat up from behind the three-point line at that point, though, to go on a 9-0 run for the 53-41 advantage with four minutes left and effectively putting the game away in the process. 

The Trojans knocked home eight treys over the course of the game while the Sun Devils were 3-of-8 in the category. 

ASU fell behind by as much as seven in the first half but forced USC into 12 turnovers and saw valuable minutes off the bench, outscoring the Trojans 12-0 in the category, to claw back into the game before halftime. 

A Brandon jumper at the 4:22 mark evened the game at 20 and ASU forced a turnover on the ensuing possession that led to a Kali Bennett layup on the other end that gave the Sun Devils the lead back.  Corral though knocked down her second trey of the game on the Trojans’ next trip down the court to retake the lead, 23-22, with three minutes left in the frame.

The teams exchanged missed shots and turnovers over the next couple minutes before Deja Mann knocked down two free throws with 1:18 left in the half to lead to put the team back in front, 24-23, heading into the break.

The ASU women will be back in action Saturday at home as they take on UCLA at 4 p.m. MST in Wells Fargo Arena.  The contest will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net.

Final Shots

  • The ASU bench showed its depth as it outscored the Sun Devil starters in the first half, 12-8, led by Thomas’ five points.
  • All ten players that saw the court for ASU logged points on Thursday with no Sun Devil scoring more than seven or less than three points.
  • ASU continued its strong defensive play, holding the Trojans to just 60 points (USC averaged 64.6 ppg entering the game) and a .326 shooting percentage (USC averaged a .388 shooting percentage coming in).  ASU has now held every opponent during the 2011-12 campaign below their respective points per game and all but one below their field goal percentage.