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ASU Basketball: Sun Devils complete sweep of Arizona in Tucson

By Carson Field

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil performs during the team's quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the Oregon Ducks T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 80-57. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil performs during the team's quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the Oregon Ducks T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 80-57. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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After defeating the Wildcats Friday, the ASU women’s basketball team completed the sweep of Arizona Sunday by a score of 69-45.

Arizona State defeated Arizona Sunday at the McKale Center in Tucson after defeating the Wildcats at home Friday. With the win, ASU secured another point in the Territorial Cup race.

“Feels good,” sophomore Jamie Ruden said. “This is the big Territorial Cup, so obviously every year we’re excited for this.”

Kianna Ibis started the scoring for ASU and helped the team get out to an early 7-0 lead to begin the game. At the end of the first, ASU led the Wildcats, 17-12.

In the second quarter, ASU nearly doubled its lead thanks to a big second quarter contribution by Jamie Ruden, as she led the team in scoring with 10 points at the half. Ruden said her teammates’ energy from the bench helped the team gain momentum after her two three-pointers.

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“I really felt my teammates, and I felt them getting excited for me, so that really helped me,” Ruden said.

Both teams excelled from the three-point line in the first half with ASU and Arizona shooting 43.8 and 75 percent from beyond the arc, respectively.

Charnea Johnson-Chapman scored the opening bucket of the second half for ASU and helped the Sun Devils gain momentum and increase their lead. The team caught fire in the third, shooting 57.1 from the field in the quarter, helping the Sun Devils extend their lead to 14 at the end of three.

Arizona State further pulled away in the fourth quarter, starting on a 8-2 run, and the Sun Devils took the game by a final score of 69-45.

Ibis led the Sun Devil scoring effort with 14 points, and Ruden followed closely behind with 12. Robbi Ryan was a point away from a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds on the night.

“At halftime, we decided we were going to be more aggressive and just work on getting in, boxing out and offensive rebounding,” Ryan said. “I just kind of went in the second half with a rebounding mentality.”

The 942 Crew made its presence felt at the McKale Center, and ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said the fans made an impact in the win.

“This is a tough place to play, but our energy from our fans was amazing,” ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “That was a really complete effort, and we played really good team basketball.”

Following the win, ASU is now 19-9 overall on the season and 10-6 in Pac-12 play. Next weekend features the last two games of the regular season when the Sun Devils host Oregon and Oregon State.

Both of the Oregon schools are in the Top 25, as Oregon comes in at No. 9 and Oregon State is No. 15.

Next: ASU Basketball: Sun Devils defend home court in 75-50 win over Arizona

“Next weekend’s a huge weekend for us,” Ekmark said. “We’re going to enjoy this one right now, but we’re definitely already looking forward to starting to prepare for the next weekend.”