ASU Basketball: Sun Devils dominate Huskies at home

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 11: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil stands on the court during a first-round game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the USC Trojans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 11, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. USC won 67-64. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 11: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil stands on the court during a first-round game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the USC Trojans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 11, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. USC won 67-64. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

After splitting last weekend against the Bay Area schools, ASU women’s basketball took care of business against the Pac-12 cellar dwellers in Washington.

Following a split on the road against Stanford and Cal, the Arizona State women’s basketball team defeated Washington 61-41 to improve to 7-4 in Pac-12 play and 16-7 overall.

Junior Courtney Ekmark led the Sun Devils on the stat sheet, scoring 15, and Robbi Ryan followed closely behind with 14 of her own.

The Sun Devils hit the ground running with a Kianna Ibis jumper to start the game, and they did not let up.

The rout began with an early 9-3 Sun Devil lead to give the team momentum. ASU came out of the gate shooting, as they started the game 10-of-10 from the field.

Ekmark said the early energy for the Sun Devils carried over from the previous game against Cal.

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“I think we just came off building off our last game against Cal,” Ekmark said. “I think we had good momentum in that game and we just carried it through.”

At the end of the first quarter, ASU held a commanding 24-11 lead over the Huskies.

The second quarter was no different for ASU, outscoring Washington 15-5 in the period. Arizona State led UW by a score of 39-16 at halftime.

Ekmark was the key performer in the first half, leading ASU in points and rebounds with 10 and five, respectively.

The third quarter was low-scoring with neither team scoring more than 10 points. Washington shrunk the margin to 20 at the end of the third to make the score 46-26.

ASU once again only scored 15 points in the fourth, but they were still able to come away with a lopsided result, taking the game by a score of 61-41.

After scoring 24 in the first quarter, ASU only scored 37 points in the last three quarters, and Ryan said it was due to the lack of discipline.

“We were just undisciplined,” Ryan said. “We just need to go back to being disciplined and not fouling; just making good passing choices.”

Arizona State is now 10-1 at Wells Fargo Arena following the win, and head coach Charli Turner Thorne said the team plays with more energy at home.

“I think our crowd is amazing,” Turner Thorne said. “We feed off our Sun Devil nation, and I do feel like they’re a little more comfortable and confident at home.”

The next test for the Sun Devils is Sunday against Washington State. The Cougars are coming off a double-digit victory over Arizona, but they have struggled in conference play this year with a 3-8 record thus far.

Turner Thorne said she looks forward to the game against WSU because they play a similar style as Washington.

“Washington State’s going to play a similar pressure-style, so it will be kind of fun,” Turner Thorne said. “We’ll get a little bit of a redo because we didn’t handle it the way we can.”

Next: ASU Basketball: Sun Devils earn needed bounce-back win at Cal

ASU will look to advance to 8-4 in Pac-12 play on Sunday against the Cougars. The game will begin at 2 p.m. MT and can be seen on the ASU Live Stream.

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.