February 10, 2013

Bonnie bombs the Sun Devils

Neither the Sun Devils' persistent zone defense nor their occasional full court press slowed the Cardinal down much as they romped to a 69-45 victory.

The Cardinal took the opportunity offered by the Sun Devils' zone to practice their 3-point shooting. Bonnie, Jos, Taylor, Sara, and Amber launched 20 shots from beyond the arc.

Only Bonnie's were falling today — five of them, her most this season! She added a layup and a couple of free throws for a career-high total of 19 points.

Chiney and Joslyn got past the defenders and scored most of the Cardinal's remaining points in the paint, with assistance from Jasmine, Amber, Mikaela, Taylor, Sara and Bonnie.

Chiney got her 19th double-double of the season with 26 points and 14 rebounds. She made all six of her free throws.

Joslyn also got a double-double – her first this season – with 13 points and 11 rebounds. She also blocked four shots and stole the ball once.

Toni didn't play today because she isn't feeling well. When Amber got into a bit of foul trouble, Jasmine took over at the point. She did a fine job of leading the offense for 14 minutes with a season-high four assists and zero turnovers.

The Cardinal's unrelenting player-to-player defense held the Sun Devils to 30.8% shooting – coincidentally the same rate as the Arizona Wildcats on Friday night.

After turning the ball over 19 times Friday night, the Cardinal's key goal for today's game was, "Take care of the ball." They had only seven turnovers tonight, well below their season average of 12.

The 4500 fans gave a warm welcome to Alex Green when she subbed in. It was her first time on the court in 15 months since she tore her Achilles tendon early last season.

After other Pac-12 action today, the conference standings did not change — Cal, UCLA, Washington, Colorado and Utah all won. Cal held on against a late run by Arizona to defeat them by just five points.

Here are game reports and commentary:

The box score and play-by-play,

A gallery of photos by Bob Drebin (Stanford Photo),

And photos by Dave Cortesi (for more photos by Dave and other fans in the stands, see FBC Fan Pix tomorrow):

Pink Day hair ribbons
Pink Day tutus
Chiney opens the scoring
A PhotoShopped "movie" of one of Bonnie's treys
Jos scores over Devil defense
Mikaela grabs a rebound
Welcome back, Alex!

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