ASU Women’s Basketball: Devils defeat Colgate; now 4-0

The Arizona State women’s basketball team won once again on Sunday by a score of 65-54, improving the team’s record to 4-0 on the year.

ASU women’s basketball is now 4-0 after the Sun Devils defeated the Colgate Raiders today, 65-54.

Kianna Ibis led the Sun Devils in scoring, contributing 20 points to the winning effort, which was a new career-high for the junior. Robbi Ryan also added 12 points, and she also led the team in rebounds with eight.

The Raiders began the game hot, as the Patriot League team started on an 11-2 run. ASU did pick up the pace later in the first quarter, however, going on a 13-5 run, which diminished the Colgate lead to one point at the end of the first quarter.

Ryan attributed ASU’s slow start with playing soft and said fatigue was not an excuse for how they played in the first quarter.

“I think we came out really soft,” Ryan said. “It shouldn’t matter if we’re tired or not. We should always come out strong and throw the first punch. Colgate threw the first punch today, which is a good reminder that we need to always come out aggressive.”

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Ibis had eight of ASU’s 15 points in the first quarter, and she led the Sun Devils in scoring.

Ibis scored a quick four points to start the second quarter for the Sun Devils, giving ASU a 19-18 lead. The teams exchanged basket for basket in the second, and the halftime score was 33-30.

Sabrina Haines, ASU’s scoring leader coming into the game, left with 3:58 left in the second quarter with a leg injury. However, she was able to see action and return in the second half.

The Sun Devils started to pull away in the third quarter, as ASU opened the half on a 6-1 run. While still the Raiders still were within single digits, the Sun Devils led Colgate by a score of 50-42 at the end of three.

ASU held onto its lead and the fourth quarter, helping the Sun Devils clinch a 65-54 victory.

The Sun Devils outscored the Raiders 38-14 in the paint, and Ibis said it was the team’s strategy to utilize the mismatch.

“We knew we kind of had a mismatch in the paint with the post, so we really emphasized on going in the paint,” Ibis said.

The next game for the Sun Devils is on Thursday in the Cancun Challenge. ASU takes on last year’s NCAA Tournament runner-up in Mississippi State, which returns Victoria Vivians and Morgan William from last year’s squad.

Because it was a well-contested game, Ibis said this sets the team up well for games against tougher opponents such as Mississippi State.

“This game right here was a little closer of a game, and it is more realistic to our upcoming games, so it’s really important,” Ibis said.

Head coach Charli Turner Thorne said the team needs to improve its defense to put themselves in a position to play well against strong opponents this weekend.

“Just our team defense,” Turner Thorne said. “People are looking around us and we’re getting beat. We’re just late on help-side. Our communication is nowhere where it needs to be, and when our communication gets there, this is going to be an incredibly good defensive team.”

ASU also takes on Green Bay and Columbia in the round-robin tournament.

Next: ASU Women’s Basketball: Sun Devils continue hot start vs. Sacramento State

Thursday’s game against the Bulldogs will begin at 11:30 a.m. MT and can be streamed on College Sports Live.