This article was originally published on January 23, 2023.
The Arizona Wildcats (15-4, 5-3 Pac-12) dominated the glass, leading to an 80-67 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils (7-10, 0-8 Pac-12) on Sunday. Treasure Hunt set a new career-high for points in a game, but it wasn’t enough to pull off the upset.
This game marked the first action for the Sun Devils since January 8 against Oregon State. Arizona State forfeited a pair of games against Utah and Colorado due to an insufficient number of players.
“From tip to final buzzer, you saw them fight,” head coach Natasha Adair said. “We’re going to be proud of our effort, we’re going to be proud of our fight because there’s a lot of basketball to still be played.
Arizona State got to the free-throw line often and shot 22-29 on free-throw attempts. After the game, Adair praised the team’s aggression to get to the free-throw line and put pressure on the Arizona defense.
“There’s so much for this group to build on. And we are doing that, and we’re getting close,” Adair said.
The Sun Devils played good team defense but weren’t able to secure enough rebounds to win. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Sun Devils 51-31, with 21 offensive rebounds to ASU’s 10. As a result, Arizona was able to get second and third chances.
“Those second chance opportunities, in a lot of ways, were the difference,” Adair said. “You’ve got to box out and get the ball, but those are things that we’ll continue to work on.”
Junior guards Treasure Hunt and Tyi Skinner each set milestones in the game. Hunt reached a new career high for points in a game with 24. She also had six rebounds, shot 3-6 from three, and 9-10 from the free-throw line.
Skinner also reached the 1,000-point mark with a layup in the third quarter. She finished the afternoon with eight points and six assists.
The Sun Devils never led in the game, but they stayed with the Wildcats until the final few minutes of the second quarter. Arizona led 33-29 with 2:58 to go in the first half. They finished the half on a 10-2 run, allowing them to carry a 12-point lead into the half.
Arizona State came out shooting in the second half to cut the deficit. Hunt scored 10 of the team’s first 12 points in the quarter to make it a 48-43 Arizona lead 5:00 into the third quarter. But again, the Wildcats went on a run to end the quarter, outscoring Arizona State by nine in the remaining five minutes.
In the fourth, the Sun Devils were never able to get within striking distance of making a comeback. With this loss, the Wildcats sweep the season series against the Sun Devils and Arizona State remains winless in the Pac-12.
The Sun Devils will have a pair of chances to get their first Pac-12 victory of the season at home when they take on the Washington State Cougars on January 27 and the Washington Huskies on January 29.
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