The ASU women's basketball team completed the weekend sweep of the Washington schools, defeating Washington State, 59-40, Saturday afternoon in Pullman, Wash.
The win, combined with California's loss to Stanford Saturday puts the Sun Devils (13-7, 7-2 Pac-10) tied with the Cardinal, and one game behind the Golden Bears for first place in the Pac-10 going into the second half of the conference season.
"Anytime you get a [19-point] win on the road [you're happy]," ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "It's hard to go into Pullman and just be completely fired up and just ready to dominate.
"I don't think we played horribly, but we certainly didn't play our best basketball either. It was just kind of like, 'Let's just take care of business and just get out of town.'"
ASU built an 11-point lead in the first half, but a 12-7 run by the Cougars (3-17, 0-9 Pac-10) over the final 6:09 of the period made the score 30-24 at the break.
"We're getting more runs on teams, but we're also giving them up," Turner Thorne said. "We shouldn't have a swing where all of a sudden it's down to a [six-point] lead. That's where this team has to be better."
WSU would cut the Sun Devils' lead to four on a lay up by freshman guard Jasmine Williams in the opening minute of the second half, but ASU kicked it into high gear after that.
The Sun Devils then went on a 19-4 run that lasted almost nine minutes. Seven different Sun Devils scored during the stretch that opened the floodgates.
"[It was our] transition [game and] creating some things with our defense," Turner Thorne said. "We got in a few passing lanes and got us some easy lay ups."
ASU's defense stood tall in the second half, allowing WSU to score only 16 points. The Cougars shot 31 percent from the field in the game, including just 7 percent (1-for-14) from three-point range.
Senior guard Jill Noe, who had been shooting just 21 percent in Pac-10 play going into Saturday's contest, made 5 of 6 shots, including two three-pointers, to lead the Sun Devils.
"We need her perimeter shooting," Turner Thorne said of Noe. "Hopefully this will be a step toward her getting going offensively."
Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu.
