A stringent defense counteracted a dismal shooting performance Monday night as the ASU women's basketball team held on for a 70-62 win over Northern Illinois (1-1) at Wells Fargo Arena.
The Sun Devils (2-0) went through a spell in the final 9:15 of the first half where they made just two field goals, shooting 31 percent overall from the floor in the half.
"We were taking tough shots," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "These kids can make them at times, but we were not patient. We didn't make the one extra pass. When we're patient, we make a lot of shots."
Despite shooting struggles, ASU maintained a 36-34 lead going into the locker room because of a swarming defense that allowed just 22 first-half shots and created 14 turnovers.
"We've said from day one, if we want to win consistently we have to be great defensively," Turner Thorne said. "We shot 35 percent for the game and still won. It's a great lesson, if you keep working hard even when you have this kind of game, it's OK."
ASU came out firing early in the second half and converted two straight buckets. Freshman forward Amy Denson made a quick lay-up, and then converted a three-point play after being fouled to open up ASU's lead to 41-34. She finished the night with 11 points and five rebounds.
The Huskies came right back with eight unanswered points and earned their first lead, 42-41, after junior guard Stephanie Smith connected underneath. The teams went on to swap the lead six times during a frantic pace over the next 1:51.
ASU finally grabbed the lead for good when freshman forward Kristen Kovesdy completed a three-point play at 16:04 to make it 50-49. The field goal was one of four on a perfect shooting night from the floor, her second in as many games.
"I really wanted to focus on rebounding because it's important," said Kovesdy, who grabbed 10 boards to go along with her 19 points. "I worked to start scoring [in the second half] and [Turner Thorne] told me to go back up with the ball."
Kovesdy went up and created fouls, going to the line and converting 11 of 13 from the charity stripe, including five of six down the stretch.
ASU built the lead back as high as eight points midway through the second half, but the Huskies' offense kept coming and closed the score to 61-60 with 4:43 to play. However, the Sun Devil defense would not allow a single basket the rest of the way and held on for its second victory of the season.
"The youthfulness of the team came out in the second half and we had a great 20 minutes of defense," Turner Thorne said.
In the first half ASU got things rolling quickly with the spark of Carrie Buckner. The sophomore guard scored the first seven Sun Devil points as they led 7-2 just 2:21 into the game.
After breaking her career high in points Friday with 13 against Chicago State, Buckner surpassed that mark again with 14 on Monday on 5-12 shooting. More importantly she had nine rebounds including three on offense.
"It was an awesome start," she said. "We wanted to create some intensity from the defense and we went with it."
After pouring in 17 points Friday, freshman guard Jill Noe contributed 13 on Monday as one of four Sun Devils in double figures.
Next the Sun Devils will host Portland State on Friday for the start of the ASU Holiday Classic, a two-day, two-game event.
"We're young and it shows, we just have to be patient," Turner Thorne said. "The great thing about this team is they find a way to make up for it. They learn quickly and don't get down."
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
