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ASU Basketball: Sun Devils prevail late against Colorado

By Adam Noel

TEMPE, AZ - SEPTEMBER 08: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot "Sparky the Sun Devil " performs during the college football game against the Michigan State Spartans at Sun Devil Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ - SEPTEMBER 08: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot "Sparky the Sun Devil " performs during the college football game against the Michigan State Spartans at Sun Devil Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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After leading early, ASU basketball needed a final fourth quarter run to get past the Buffaloes on day one of the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Although it wasn’t easy, the Sun Devils prevailed and will live to see another day.

In the opening game of the 2019 Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament, the fifth-seeded Arizona State Sun Devils defeated the 12th-seeded Colorado Buffaloes 66-49.

With the victory, the Sun Devils advanced to the quarterfinals, where they will face the fourth-seeded UCLA Bruins.

Despite the final box score, the numbers don’t quite reflect the uphill battle it was for ASU.

After building an 18-point lead in the second quarter, the Sun Devils saw the Buffaloes storm back to cut the lead to one in the final minute of the third.

A catalyst behind the strong quarter was Colorado senior Alexis Robinson, who had a game-high 19 points for the Buffaloes.

Robinson, a typical starter for Colorado, began the game on the bench after coming into the contest as questionable for the Buffaloes.

But the role change didn’t affect Robinson’s production for the Buffaloes.

The senior guard made three straight threes for Colorado during the third quarter push. Ultimately, she finished with 11 of her 19 in the period.

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The Sun Devil response came from the hot hand of senior Courtney Ekmark.

Ekmark answered deep shot after deep shot from Colorado, making 6-of-12 3-point shots and finishing as one of two double-digit scorers for the Sun Devils.

“I think just keep shooting it with confidence,” Ekmark said. “I knew I had a couple in-and-outs in the first half, so staying aggressive.”

And while ASU never trailed during the game, the lead was in serious jeopardy of being taken by Colorado by the end of the third.

The Buffaloes had limited the Sun Devils to 33.3 percent from the field and forced six turnovers during the period, and seemed to carry the momentum heading into the fourth.

But ASU locked down on defense and went back to worked during their sweep of the Buffaloes during the regular season.

“But I think that one of our — maybe one of the knocks on us a little bit at times is we’ll kind of but like, ‘okay we got this,’ and we’ll take our foot off the gas,” head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “They took their foot off the gas, and you can’t do that in March. You can’t do it in our conference.”

The Sun Devils responded, outscoring the Colorado 23-9 in the fourth and paving their way to a trip to the conference quarterfinals.

And while having a bye would have been beneficial, the Sun Devils feel are some advantages to playing on day one of the Pac-12 tournament.

“The first game I felt in my 30 years of college coaching is the hardest, even when it’s not the toughest opponent,” Turner Thorne said. “It’s just that first game, and kind of the pressure and the excitement of the moment can get to you a little bit.”

Next. ASU Basketball: Rebounding will key Devils’ run in March. dark

The Sun Devils take on the Bruins in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. MST.

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