While January was setting a school record, it was only part of ASU shattering the previous record for three’s in a game. The Devils connected for 14 shots from downtown, topping the previous record of 10 against Stanford in 2006.
After struggling from the field against Florida on Saturday, ASU bounced back and shot 50 percent on Wednesday and shot an impressive 61 percent from downtown.
The Sun Devils started the game on a 14-0 run that saw six different players score. Free throws by Hana Asano gave the Aggies their first points of the game with 14:32 left in the first half. Asano also had the Aggies first field goal, a three with 11:52 to play in the half, cutting ASU’s lead to 17-5.
But an 18-10 run by UC Davis got the Aggies right back in the game and they cut the Devils lead to 27-23 with 2:50 to play in the half. But ASU answered right back and a 10-0 run sparked by back-to-back threes by Danielle Orsillo gave ASU a 37-25 halftime lead.
The Aggies wouldn’t go away easy and answered ASU’s run with a 9-0 run to start the second half and ASU’s lead was cut to 37-34. But then it was January time.
The senior guard connected on four straight three pointers in a span of 2:30 and just like that January single handedly gave ASU a comfortable lead again at 49-34. Dymond Simon finished off the 17-4 run with the final five points of the run, to give ASU their largest lead at 54-37 with 13:02 left in the game.
But in a game of runs, UC Davis wouldn’t die easy. They rattled off a 9-0 run of their own to get right back in the game at 54-46 with 9:42 to play. But a three by Orsillo capped a 5-0 ASU run and the Devils lead was right back to 13.
January finished with a career-best 25 points on 8-10 shooting and was a scorching 7-9 from beyond the arc. Lost in January’s big day was Dymond Simon who put in 20 and shot 7-13. Danielle Orsillo was the only other Sun Devil in double figures, she had 10.
ASU didn’t get much from its post play on Wednesday, as the starting duo of Lauren Lacey and Sybil Dosty combined for just two points five rebounds, while turning the ball over eight times. Lacey and Dosty just took a combined three shots.
ASU will now get set to host the ASU Classic this weekend at Wells Fargo Arena. The Devils kick things off against UC Irvine on Saturday at 2PM. The Anteaters are 3-3 on the season and have wins at San Diego St and Sacramento St. Hawaii and Northern Arizona play in the other semifinal at 4:30 on Saturday and the winners will meet at 2PM on Sunday, with the losers playing right after.