No. 21 Arizona State Beats No. 9 Oregon State 66-54
From the Associated Press:
TEMPE, Ariz. — The polls would consider it an upset, but it certainly didn’t have that feel.
Kiannna Ibis had 20 points and eight rebounds and No. 21 Arizona State used a 17-0 run in the second and third quarters to roll to a 66-54 victory over No. 9 Oregon State on Friday, sweeping the season series.
“It’s two great teams playing,” Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne said.
“Women’s basketball polls can make you go `hmmmm.’ They are a great team and a great program. They are deserving of the accolades they get. Hopefully, the fact that we beat them twice, this will help us in our resume as we prepare for March Madness.”
Iris Mbulito scored 10 points, Charnea Johnson-Chapman had six points and a season-high 12 rebounds, and Reili Richardson added eight points to help the Sun Devils (19-8, 10-6 Pac-12) end a two-game losing streak.
Mikayla Pivec had 18 points for Oregon State (23-6, 14-4), and Aleah Goodman had 16. The Beavers had won three in a row and four of five.
Arizona State scored the final four points of the first half to take the lead for good, then scored the first 13 points of the second half for a 41-25 lead. The Sun Devils made 11 of 16 field goal attempts in the third quarter, while the Beavers missed their first four attempts and committed three turnovers.
“We had some fun at halftime, because last week was the death of us, to be honest. We were just tragic,” Turner Thorne said about road losses at California and Stanford. “We talked about make them (Beavers) call the first timeout. Let’s get after it. They really were in attack mode to start the third quarter.”
The Beavers trimmed a 17-point deficit to nine at 53-44 when Arizona State failed to score in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, but Ibis scored eight straight Sun Devil points to make it 61-46.
Ibis made three free throws after Oregon State coach Scott Rueck received two technical fouls was ejected with 2:19 remaining. He has to be restrained by members of his coaching staff after receiving the second technical. Rueck was unavailable for comment.
Ibis had 28 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots in the Sun Devils’ 79-76 double-overtime victory in Corvallis on Jan. 20. She was 9 of 9 from the field in the second half and overtime of that game and was 6 for 7 in the second half Friday.
“It’s my teammates trying to find me open,” Ibis said. “We came hungry and we came with a sense of urgency. We really stepped up in the third quarter. We were playing like it’s our last conference games. We were connected.”
Oregon State guard Destiny Slocum, who leads the team with a 16.7 scoring average, scored three points and missed all five of field goal attempts before fouling out. She played only four minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls.
BIG PICTURE
The Sun Devils are fighting No. 25 UCLA for the fourth seed and a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament. Oregon State has won at least 26 games in each of the last four seasons and is on track to reach that plateau again with at least three games remaining — the regular-season finale at Arizona and first-round games in the Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments.
UP NEXT
Oregon State: Finishes the regular season at Arizona on Sunday.
Arizona State: Hosts No. 6 Oregon on Sunday in the regular-season finale.