(Nashville, TN) Nevaeh Parkinson came off the bench and scored a team- and career-high 26 points in the Sun Devil women’s basketball team’s 95-88 win over South Dakota at the Music City Classic.
Five players – Parkinson (12-13 FGs), Tyi Skinner (20 points, team high-tying seven assists, 6-11 3FGs, six rebounds), Jalyn Brown (19 points, team-high seven rebounds, four assists, career-high four blocks), Jyah LoVett (14 points, five assists) and Kennedy Fauntleroy (14 points, team high-tying seven assists, five rebounds) – scored in double figures for the Sun Devils (4-3), who surpassed the 50-percent mark in shooting (52.2) for the second time this season.
ASU knocked down 12 triples, two short of tying the school record of 14 and the most since hitting 13 against Marist on Nov. 21, 2021. All six of Skinner’s field goals were from beyond the arc, one triple shy of tying the school record of seven accomplished by five Sun Devils, most recently Taya Hanson vs. Cal on New Year’s Day in 2021.
As a team, the Sun Devils dished out 27 assists, the most helpers since it also had 27 vs. Arkansas on December 21, 2017. Earlier that season, the Sun Devils amassed a season-high 31 assists vs. Sacramento State on November 18, 2017.
Parkinson, who led ASU in the second half of Tuesday’s game vs. Kentucky (nine points, seven rebounds) was nearly perfect vs. South Dakota making 12 of 13 from the floor, the most field goals since Jade Loville accounted for 12 field goals twice during the 2021-22 season. In the last seven years, only Kianna Ibis had more when she made 13 at Utah on New Year’s Eve in 2017.
After giving up the game’s first seven points, the Sun Devils, who led for more than 34 minutes of game time, outscored the Coyotes 22-12 and ended the first quarter with a 22-19 lead. An 11-0 run – accomplished in only 1:23 – in the second quarter gave ASU its biggest lead of the game. Brown started the scoring burst with a layup. Fauntleroy, Skinner and LoVett followed with 3-pointers to put ASU up 16, 45-29. ASU maintained a double-digit advantage, 49-39, at the half.
The Coyotes (3-5) were within one possession of either tying or taking the lead three times in the second half. In each instance, the Sun Devils scored on the ensuing possession. The last of those occasions came after the Coyotes hit a pair of free throws to pull within two, 84-82, with 3:08 remaining in the game. Brown scored the game’s next six points to extend ASU’s lead 90-82 and the Coyotes did not get any closer than four points the rest of the way.
ASU outscored South Dakota in bench points 42-19. The Sun Devils also helped their cause with a season-low 11 turnovers and an 85-percent performance at the free throw line (11-13).
For ASU, Wednesday’s game was the second of seven consecutive in which it will be on the road for either a neutral site contest (three games) or as the away team in a true road game (four games). The Sun Devils play the first of the four true road contests next Thursday at Coppin State.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Steve Rodriguez
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