#20 Orange Edged by #24 Sun Devils, 63-60

Monday, December 30

Tempe, Ariz.

8 p.m.

Syracuse University

11-2

Arizona State

11-1

Team	1	2	F
Syracuse	37	23	60
Arizona State	33	30	63

12/30/2013 10:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score | Season Stats

TEMPE, Ariz. - No. 24 Arizona State overcame a 25-point effort by Brianna Butler to defeat No. 20 Syracuse women's basketball, 63-60, in the Orange's final non-conference game of the season on Monday at Wells Fargo Arena. Syracuse heads into ACC play 11-2, while the Sun Devils improved to 11-1.

A tight back-and-forth affair, the game featured 10 lead changes and four ties with neither leading by more than four points for the entire second half. The Orange trailed by one when Sykes was called for a charge with nine seconds left, and following a pair of Adrianne Thomas free throws that made the deficit three, Rachel Coffey's 3-point attempt in the final seconds was short, sealing the victory for the home team.

Butler scored a game-high 25 points, 20 of which came in the first half, on 10-of-20 shooting, including 3-of-8 from 3-point range. Sykes added 13 points, while freshman Briana Day contributed seven points and 12 rebounds.

Arizona State was led by double-doubles from Kelsey Moos (15 points, 12 rebounds) and Joy Burke (14 points, 10 rebounds).

After a Sykes drive and score with 2:01 left put SU up one, Kelsey Moos answered with a layup for ASU with 1:31 left, giving the Sun Devils the lead for good. The Orange did not score again, going 0-of-2 at the free throw line.

Syracuse shot 39.4 percent overall, while Arizona State shot 33.8 percent. The Sun Devils got 15 points at the free throw line in 18 attempts, while SU was 5-of-10 at the charity stripe.

SU enjoyed a 23-14 edge in points off turnovers, forcing ASU to give it away 19 times, while the Sun Devils had a 22-11 advantage in second-chance points, capitalizing on 24 offensive rebounds.

After the Sun Devils started the game by jumping out to a 8-2 lead, the Orange began to find its rhythm and slowly chipped away at the deficit, taking its first lead, 26-24, on a Butler 3-pointer at the 7:00 mark. After the teams traded leads again, Butler scored seven points in a 10-0 Orange run over a 3:34 span to give SU the largest lead of the half, 37-29, with 1:37 left in the half before eventually taking a 37-33 edge to the locker room.

Butler made 8-of-14 shots in the first half to become the first SU player to score 20 in a half since Kayla Alexander had 21 in the second half vs. St. John's on Jan. 11, 2012. As usual, the Orange defense was aggressive, forcing 12 ASU turnovers that led to 16 SU points.

The Orange plays its first-ever ACC game on Sunday, Jan. 5 at NC State in a 2 p.m. tip-off on ESPN3.