ASU Women’s Basketball: Sun Devils down New Mexico, stay undefeated at home

It’s been six days since the Arizona State Sun Devils last took the court, where they survived in an overtime thriller against the Idaho State Bengals.

After some offensive and defensive struggles against the Bengals and BYU, the Sun Devils (8-2) showed improvements and took home a 84-47 win over the University of New Mexico Lobos (7-4, 0-2 Mountain West).

It was back and forth early between the Lobos and the Sun Devils, but the maroon and gold pulled away late in the first quarter, going on a 9-0 run to end things, giving themselves a 22-9 lead.

The Lobos tried to fight back in the second quarter, but they only ever came within nine points of as the team’s headed into the locker room for halftime.

It would be the closest the game would ever get.

Coming out of the second half, ASU never looked back and continued to put their foot on the gas, something they didn’t do in the final quarter against the Bengals.

They led by double-digits for all of the second half, racking up 52 points in the second half.

Once again, rebounding fell in the Sun Devils’ favor and it is something they continue to stress heading into each game. They out-rebounded the Lobos 57-25, holding them to only seven rebounds in the second half, compared to their 31.

New Mexico went 0-for-18 from behind-the-arc, while the Sun Devils shot 32 percent, after only shooting 16 percent their prior game.

ASU saw success from multiple players on the court.

Senior Ja’Tavia Tapley recorded her third double-double of the season, banking in 12 points and 12 rebounds. Senior guard Reili Richardson had a season-high 21 points on the night, reaching double digits in the second quarter. Freshman guard Sara Bejedi racked up 13 points in the second half, ending with 16 total.

The Sun Devils will now hit the road and head to Las Cruces, New Mexico to face New Mexico State Wednesday at 11 a.m. MST.