After trudging through an out-of-conference schedule that ranked among the toughest in the country, No. 17 ASU women's basketball (10-3, 1-0 Pac-12) opened Pac-12 play with a 57-49 victory over No. 19 California.
Junior forward Sophie Brunner led the way for the Sun Devils, stuffing the stat sheet with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Brunner appears to be in top form once again after battling an ankle sprain earlier in the season.
"Sophie is a huge part of our team," said junior center Quinn Dornstauder. "We're really feeling the difference of having her back and we're all really happy and excited."
On the other side, 6'4" freshman sensation Kristine Anigwe shined for the Bears (8-3, 0-1 Pac-12). Anigwe finished with 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds, three blocks and three steals.
The first quarter was a sloppy one for Cal as the Sun Devil defense brought heavy pressure. As a result, the Bears committed 10 turnovers in the quarter and trailed 18-10 despite shooting 56 percent from the field.
In the second quarter, the Sun Devils experienced offensive struggles of their own, including a stretch of six consecutive missed shots.
However, a 14-1 run catalyzed by senior guard Arnecia Hawkins blew the lead wide open for ASU as Cal dealt with a 4 minute scoreless stretch. The Sun Devils led 35-19 at the half.
The Bears came out of the locker room and popped off a 5-0 run, but senior guard Katie Hempen was quick to answer with a three-pointer to put ASU on top 38-24 early in the third quarter.
She scored 14 in the game, going 4-8 from behind the arc.
ASU never led by less than eight in the second half, despite a number of back-and-forth scores throughout the third quarter. Anigwe's stellar offensive performance was not enough for a Cal team that couldn't hang onto the ball, finishing with 26 total turnovers.
"Our emphasis was to bring the pressure," said senior guard Elisha Davis. "We knew that they had really good offensive players, so the key was to have really good on-ball defense as well as denying the passing lanes."
Davis was 0-of-8 from the field and held scoreless, but finished with nine assists.
Despite her continued scoring struggles so far this season, ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne praised Davis's effort on the defensive side of the ball.
"(Davis) is making those kids, for 84 feet, work for every bounce," Turner Thorne said. "She is getting the ball and singlehandedly pushing it up the floor, just igniting our full-court game."
ASU missed 11 of its final 12 field goals attempts and turned the ball over four times. This sounds like a recipe for a Cal comeback, but the Sun Devils held their own on the defensive side of the ball and emerged victorious.
"In the second half we kind of wanted it to be a little easier on offense," Turner Thorne said. "That's a good teachable moment for us."
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter.
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