Taya Hanson had 13 points on Friday evening as the Arizona State Sundevils pulled away from the Maine Black Bears 57-31 in an opening round women’s basketball game of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida.
Maine (2-4) had a couple early leads on a three-pointer by Maddy McVicar and two layups by Maeve Carroll at 7-4. A good three-pointer though by Hanson gave ASU (4-1) a one point lead that they never gave back. The Sundevils led by three after one quarter. The Black Bears went through a stretch in the second quarter without a point or field goal in a 4:51 stretch that allowed Arizona State to take a nine point halftime lead. Maines leading scorer Blanca Millan went down with 2:17 left in the half with an apparent right leg injury and didn’t return.
A jumper from Black Bears guard Dor Saar would cut the lead to five almost halfway through the third quarter, but then ASU turned it on to put it away. A 12-0 spurt by the Sundevils in just under three minutes capped off by a three-pointer from Robbi Ryan made it 37-20. The lead would balloon to 20 at the end of the third quarter, and Maine never got closer than 17 the rest of the way. The final 26 point margin was the largest of the night.
Carroll led Maine in the loss with nine points, three rebounds, and three steals. Kelly Fogarty added six points and three rebounds, while McVicar finished with five. Hanson was the games high scorer in the Arizona State win. Jayde Van Hyfte added eight points and seven rebounds, while Ja’Tavia Tapley also contributed seven points. The Black Bears had an uncharacteristic 23 turnovers and got outscored 21-6 off those miscues. Maine has also only averaged 40 points per game in their last four contests, in which they’ve gone 1-3. They will play in a losers bracket game on Saturday afternoon against either Drake or Purdue.
