Trending
KANSAS CITY -- Gabby Elliott had 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and No. 10 seed Arizona State beat No. 7 seed Iowa State 77-68 on Thursday in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament.
Arizona State (24-9) advances to face No. 2 seed West Virginia in the quarterfinals on Friday and strengthened its case for an NCAA Tournament berth. The Sun Devils improved their win total dramatically under first-year coach Molly Miller after finishing with 11 victories last season.
Arizona State set the tone early, jumping to a 17-2 lead behind Heloisa Carrera, who scored 12 of her 17 points in the opening stretch. The Sun Devils led 33-25 at halftime before Elliott ignited a decisive third-quarter run.
She opened the second half with eight straight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers, as Arizona State stretched the lead to double digits. The Sun Devils outscored Iowa State 27-21 in the third quarter and carried a 60-46 advantage into the fourth.
Iowa State pushed back late and trimmed the deficit to 68-62 on an Addy Brown 3-pointer with 1:41 remaining. Arizona State, however, did not allow the Cyclones to get closer than six points the rest of the way despite going nearly eight minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter.
McKinna Brackens finished with 16 for the Sun Devils.
Audi Crooks led Iowa State (22-9) with 21 points, while Brown added 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Arizona St. 77, Iowa St. 68
ARIZONA ST. (24-9) -- Brackens 7-17 1-1 16, Carrera 5-6 7-8 17, Elliott 7-17 6-7 22, Poa 2-4 7-8 12, Washenitz 2-4 0-0 6, Fantini 0-2 0-0 0, Davenport 0-1 0-0 0, LoVett 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 1-4 2-4 4. TOTALS 24-56 23-28 77.
IOWA ST. (22-9) -- Brown 4-14 3-3 13, Crooks 6-12 9-13 21, Hare 4-7 1-3 12, Jackson 2-10 1-2 7, Jada Williams 4-12 3-4 11, Harris 0-3 0-0 0, Alisa Williams 1-1 0-0 2, Beaty 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS 22-61 17-25 68.
Arizona St. 17 16 27 17 -- 77
Iowa St. 9 16 21 22 -- 68
3-Point Goals--Arizona St. 6-13 (Brackens 1-3, Elliott 2-3, Poa 1-2, Washenitz 2-3, LoVett 0-1, Williams 0-1), Iowa St. 7-36 (Brown 2-11, Crooks 0-1, Hare 3-6, Jackson 2-9, J.Williams 0-5, Harris 0-3, Beaty 0-1). Assists--Arizona St. 12 (Elliott 8), Iowa St. 13 (J.Williams 6). Fouled Out--Elliott, Washenitz, Crooks. Rebounds--Arizona St. 41 (Elliott 10), Iowa St. 36 (Brown 12). Total Fouls--Arizona St. 26, Iowa St. 25.