The Sun Devils continued their dominance of New Mexico schools in a 70-47 crushing of New Mexico State Wednesday morning.
Freshman forward Eboni Walker led ASU in scoring with 13 points, shooting 6/11 from the field and securing four rebounds. Senior forward Ja’Tavia Tapley put up 11 points and grabbed five rebounds of her own.
Key contributions also came from sophomore forward Iris Mbulito, who scored 10 points with three rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Kiara Russell put in a well-rounded performance, scoring six points with three rebounds and five assists.
The game was close initially, with ASU holding on to a minuscule 14-11 lead after the first quarter. However, the Sun Devils absolutely crushed the Aggies in the second quarter, outscoring them 18-4 and dominating in all aspects.
ASU entered the fourth quarter with a 53-21 lead, and the gap was far too wide for the Aggies to narrow even as they outscored the Sun Devils in the final quarter.
Once again, the Sun Devils’ defense was paramount in their victory. Five Aggies players failed to score a single point. New Mexico State turned the ball over a whopping 18 times in the matchup, giving ASU 21 points off of turnovers while the Sun Devils only turned the ball over seven times themselves.
While both teams had similar rebounding numbers, this discrepancy in turnovers gave ASU a major advantage over the Aggies. 16 assists for ASU compared to just two for New Mexico State certainly didn’t hurt either.
This win is the fifth in a row for ASU and the team's second consecutive victory by a margin of 20 points or more. The Sun Devils now sit at 9-2 on the season and travel back home to play Creighton next on Dec. 20.
Reach the reporter at cvanligt@asu.edu and follow @Connor_VL on Twitter.
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