ASU Women’s Basketball: Sun Devils open season with 71-41 win

Arizona State women’s basketball (1-0) had a strong opening to their season with a 71-41 victory over Northern Colorado (0-1).

“It was a good team win,” coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “I thought we were nervous. I thought we just had first game jitters. We came out, we punched hard, but then we’re not in great game shape yet, obviously, so we got a little tired.”

ASU had a strong first quarter, outscoring the Bears 19-7. The Sun Devils then let up, going without a score for the first 5:47 of the third quarter.

“Also, we just need to get comfortable being up and not taking our foot off the gas because we did that in our scrimmages, as well,” Turner Thorne said. “We had good leads and kind of took our foot off the gas.”

Senior transfer Jade Loville led the team with 18 points, going four for four on her 3-point attempts.

“My teammates just found me and luckily I could hit down the shots for them,” Loville said. “I was just trying to find some space and my teammates did a great job of seeking space and finding the open person.”

ASU will next host Minnesota at Desert Financial Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. MST.