BERKELEY, Calif. (12-2-2006) - Seniors Adrianne Davie and Rudy Sims combined for 53 points to lift the Arkansas State Lady Indians (5-3) to a 90-71 win over San Jose State (0-7) Saturday night in the California Contra Costa Times Classic at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif.
Davie finished the night with 28 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Sims finished with a season high 25 points, five rebounds and a season high four steals. Ashley Anderson also finished in double figures for ASU, netting 10 points on the night. ASU's 90 points were another season-high for the Lady Indians, eclipsing an 87-point effort against Arkansas Pine Bluff Nov. 26.
"We did enough good things to get the win, but we didn't play with a lot of discipline," said ASU head coach Brian Boyer. "Probably some of that was fighting off fatigue from the travel. Adrianne was awesome tonight as was Rudy, and Ali came out in the second half and showed tremendous senior leadership.
Powered by 20 first-half points from Davie, ASU led by as many as 13 points in the opening period, but a late push by San Jose State cut the Lady Indian lead to 40-36 at the break.
The Lady Indians went on a 9-2 run to open the second half, stretching the lead back to double figures at 49-38 on a pair of free throws by Sims with 17:16 remaining.
Arkansas State built its lead to as much as 15 points midway through the second half, then put the game away down the stretch.
In addition to the double-figure efforts from Davie, Sims and Anderson, the Lady Indians also got eight points and five rebounds from Ali Carter, five points from Jazmine Taylor, four each from Kelsey Lock, Brittney Hiles and Lyndsey Schlup, and two points from Ebonie Jefferson. Caroline Starr added a team-high five assists and six rebounds on the night.
The Lady Indians outscored SJSU 38-18 in the paint, held a 29-10 advantage in points off of turnovers, and shot 31-of-42 at the line, while the Spartans 14-of-18.
Arkansas State will take on host California in Sunday's championship game. The 16th ranked Lady Bears rolled past Harvard 96-54 in Saturday's early game. Sunday's ASU-Cal matchup is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m., central.
"This year's schedule is very strong, but what it does lack is nationally ranked teams," said Boyer. "We held our own against nationally ranked Purdue, and it will take an even bigger effort against Cal tomorrow, but we are going to go out and give it our best shot and see how we can do."
Courtesy: ArkansasState
