Tapley, Ruden lead No. 20 Arizona St. women past Air Force

Nov 5, 2020, 10:37 pm

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Jamie Ruden scored 14 points, Ja'Tavia Tapley had 11 points and eight rebounds, and No. 20 Arizona State beat Air Force 87-56 on Tuesday night in the season opener for both teams.

Jayde Van Hyfte and Sara Bejedi scored 12 points apiece for Arizona State.

Air Force's Allyah Marlett hit a 3-pointer to tie it with 4:32 left in the first quarter but the Falcons missed their final four shots of the period and committed five turnovers as Arizona State scored 11 consecutive points to take a 22-11 lead into the second. Air Force trimmed its deficit to 33-29 with three minutes left in the first half but Reili Richardson hit a 3-pointer, Eboni Walker made 1 of 2 free throws, and Tapley converted a three-point play to make it 40-29 at the break and the Sun Devils led by double figures the rest of the way.

Arizona State made 20 of 32 (73.3%) from the field in the second half and shot 54% overall.

Kamri Heath lead Air Force with 16 points and Emily Conroe added 12 points and eight rebounds.

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