Women's basketball defeats Washington State for fourth straight win
Kimberly Brandon (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Kali Bennett (10 points, six rebounds) combined for 27 points and 17 rebounds to help lead the Arizona State women's basketball to a 63-46 win over Washington State on Thursday night.
The win, ASU's fourth consecutive, pulled the Sun Devils (14-5, 5-3 Pac-12) into a tie for third place in the Pac-12 with USC (10-8, 5-3), which was defeated 69-67 at Colorado.
The Sun Devil bench played a big role in the win as freshman Promise Amukamara (nine points - seven in the second half) and redshirt junior Janae Fulcher (eight points - seven in the second half) combined to score 14 points in the second half.
ASU outrebounded the Cougars (9-11, 3-5 Pac-12) 43-32 and had a 13-4 advantage in second chance points.
The Sun Devils used a 22-5 run in the second half to turn a slight 29-26 lead into a commanding 51-31 advantage with 8:44 left in the game.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Brandon and Alex Earl ignited the run, which included several contributions from Amukamara. The freshman guard came off the bench to account for seven points, two rebounds and one steal during the scoring run.
ASU, which shot 55 percent (17-31) in the second half, forced Washington State into a 30-percent shooting effort for the game. Bennett (eight points, 4-4 FGs) and Brandon (eight points, 3-4 FGs) combined to score 16 points in the second half while collectively missing only one shot (7-8).
The Cougars were led by Jazmine Perkins and Rosetta Adzasu, who tied for the team lead with 10 points each.
The 46 points Washington State scored represented the 10th time in 18 games that ASU has held the opposition to 50 or fewer points.
Brandon recorded her eighth career double-double and has now averaged 15.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in ASU's last four games while shooting 55 percent during that stretch.
The Sun Devils return to action on Saturday (2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT) when they travel to Seattle, Wash., to take on the University of Washington. The game can be heard live on The Fan AM 1060.