ASU made Pac-10 leading scorer and WNBA hopeful Shannon Howell look below average at best during Thursday night's win over Oregon State.
Howell, averaging 19.9 points per game heading into Thursday's contest, was shut down by the defensive play of senior guard Kylan Loney. Howell ended the night with 16 points on just 6-of-19 shooting.
"Kylan and Carrie [Buckner] both did a really nice job [on Howell] tonight," ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "They've won games when [Howell] hasn't had big games, but for the most part I was impressed."
Loney and the Sun Devils held the 5-foot-9 senior guard to 1-of-9 shooting in the first half. The defense was made more impressive considering Howell was coming off two straight 30-point plus performances in a split with the Washington schools last week.
"I just wasn't feeling it tonight," Howell said. "It's frustrating but I don't feel like it was a slump, I look at it as we didn't get the win."
Despite shooting just 22.2 percent from the field, ASU managed to snag a 17-14 halftime lead, mainly by shutting down Howell.
Howell's lackluster shooting continued into the second half, as she quickly found herself on the bench after misfiring on her first two shot attempts. She missed nine straight shots after starting the game 1-for 2.
She scored her first field goal with 15:28 remaining in the first half and wouldn't see another until the 9:27 mark of the second half.
Howell's offensive presence was clearly missed early in the second half, as the Sun Devils rattled off a 9-2 run with her on the bench.
She finally looked somewhat alive midway through the second half when she hit a lay-up that ended the 26-minute field goal drought. Howell scored 13 points in the second half, but it was too little, too late as ASU had already built a 12-point lead.
"I thought we did a great job [on Howell] for three-fourths of the game," Thorne said. "When Howell really gets going that energizes their team and when she doesn't it's harder for them as a team collectively to get going."
Reach the reporter at brian.knapp@asu.edu.
