ASU Women’s Basketball: Sun Devils routed by Arizona 91-54, to begin final season in Pac-12

Arizona State fell to rival Arizona in Tempe on Sunday

TEMPE, Ariz.— In their final home opening game in the Pac-12 conference, Arizona State (7-4, 0-1 Pac-12) lost in blowout fashion to Arizona (8-3, 1-0 Pac-12) in a Territorial Cup matchup. Five Wildcats players reached double-digit points for Arizona in its 91-52 win.

Arizona sophomore guard Kailyn Gilbert led the Wildcats in scoring with 19 points after she shot 7 for 10, including 2 for 3 from 3-point range to help the Wildcats score 52 points in the first half. For the Sun Devils, it was sophomore guard Jalyn Brown who scored 19 of her own and shot 50 percent from field goal range to pair with her eight rebounds in the losing effort. ASU was outscored 52-24 in the first half after the Wildcats shot a remarkable 21 for 29 (72 percent) on field goals and 9 for 11 (82 percent) from 3-point range in the first 40 minutes of play.

In the first quarter, the Sun Devils managed to keep the game close despite Arizona coming out on fire hitting four of their first five 3-pointers. The final score after one quarter of play was 24-16 with three separate Sun Devils at the four-point mark. Both teams attempted 14 shots with ASU hitting five of those. Arizona doubled the Sun Devils makes with 10 buckets.

The second quarter is where the Wildcats increased their defensive intensity. Arizona only allowed eight points as they extended their point in the second quarter to 20 points. The large 14-0 run began just two minutes into the second quarter to help secure the Wildcats’ momentum inside Desert Financial Arena. Arizona State was 3 for 11 from the field in the quarter, mostly due to contested jumpers. ASU attempted one 3-point shot in the quarter compared to the Wildcats 10 3-point attempts.

Down by 28 points at halftime, the Sun Devils were overpowered by the Wildcats’ shot-making abilities. An unprecedented eight Wildcat shots clanked off the rim in the entirety of the first half.

In the third quarter, Brown led the charge for the Sun Devils when she scored six points on three of six shooting as the offense continued to struggle to shoot the ball effectively. The Sun Devils took 21 shots in the quarter, their most in a quarter all game but hit only five of them.

The Wildcats closed out the game in the fourth scoring 23 points, eight of which came from fifth-year guard Helena Pueyo. Pueyo was 5-6 from beyond 3-point range in the game.

ASU will look to pick up the pieces in a better shooting night against Fresno State at noon MST on Wednesday at Footprint Center as part of the 2023 Jerry Colangelo Hall of Fame Series.