Women's basketball defeats South Dakota State

Dymond Simon scored 10 of her game-high 15 points in the second half as Arizona State won its fourth consecutive game, defeating South Dakota State 63-52.

Janae Fulcher added 10 points while guards Markisha Patterson (9 points, 8 rebounds) and Tenaya Watson (7 points, 8 rebounds) combined for 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Sun Devils (7-2), who outrebounded the Jackrabbits 37-34.

For the second time in as many games the Sun Devils made a season-best six 3-point field goals in addition to shooting a season-best 50 percent (6-12) from 3-point range.

As has been a consistent theme during its current winning streak, ASU continued to be dominant on the defensive end as it limited the Jackrabbits (4-6) to a season-low shooting effort of 33 percent while the 52 points South Dakota State scored were its fewest in a home game since the 1986-87 campaign.

The Jackrabbits made only 14 field goals however were able to stay in the game thanks in large part to a 21-of-30 effort from the free throw line. The Sun Devils, meanwhile, had taken only seven free throws in the first 35 minutes of the game, before hitting 6-of-7 in the final five minutes of play

ASU led the entire second half, however found itself threatened when Jackrabbit guard Jill Young hit a 3-pointer to cut the Sun Devil lead to 53-51 with 5:48 remaining.

Young's three would be South Dakota State's final field goal of the night as the Sun Devils closed the game with a 10-1 run, not allowing the Jackrabbits to score a single point the final 4:03 of the game while outrebounding them 10-3.

After falling behind 22-17 midway through the first half the Sun Devils answered with an 11-0 run to go up 28-22. Following the scoring burst ASU would not trail for the remainder of the game as they eventually took a 36-32 lead into the locker room.

The Sun Devils shot 52 percent in the first half, including 67 percent (4-6) from 3-point range. Kimberly Brandon led the Sun Devils as she scored all eight of her points during the first 20 minutes.

ASU returns to action on Tuesday night when it hosts No. 22 DePaul (13-1), which upset second-ranked Stanford 91-71 on Thursday night. The ASU-DePaul game on Tuesday will be the second game of an ASU basketball doubleheader as the Sun Devil men kicks things off when they host Long Beach State at 5 p.m.

Both games will be televised live by Fox Sports Arizona.