WBB’s Jalyn Brown Posts Third Career 30-Point Game in Loss at No. 11 K-State

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MANHATTAN, Kan. – Led by Jalyn Brown's 32 points, the Sun Devil women's basketball team came through with one of its best outings of the season. Unfortunately, it was not enough for it to pull off what would have been a head-turning upset in an 81-69 loss at No. 11 Kansas State on Sunday.
 
Tyi Skinner scored 10 points, Nevaeh Parkinson and Jyah LoVett had eight points each and Kennedy Fauntleroy added six points for the Sun Devils (8-11, 2-5 Big 12), who trailed by two after one quarter, six at the half and were able get back within seven three times in the fourth quarter after falling behind by as many as 17.
 
Brown's 32-point performance represented the third 30-point performance of her career (last season scored 35 vs. Colorado and 34 at Washington 1/21/24), the single-game high for a Sun Devil this season and the most points K-State allowed a player to score this season.
 
How remarkable was ASU's effort on Sunday?

• Its final point total of 69 represented the most given up by K-State this season and almost 18 points more than it gives up on average (51.1 points per game/No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense).
• Its shooting percentage of 47.2 for the game was 15 percentage points higher than K-State's opponents shoot on average (32.2 percent/No. 1 in the nation in field goal percentage defense).
• ASU was within single digits late in the game against the Wildcats, who came into the game outscoring their opponents by an average of 32.2 points per game (No. 1 in the nation).

ASU's offensive accomplishments were even more impressive given the game was played on K-State's home court where the Wildcats (now 13-0 this season) came in winning games by an average of 38.5 points (26.5 fewer points vs. ASU) and allowing opponent averages of 47.2 points per game (ASU +21.8 points) and 30.8 percent shooting (ASU +16.4 percentage points)
 
ASU was equally up to the challenge on the boards where K-State was plus-2 for the game, 8.6 fewer rebounds than the +10.6 rebounding advantage (12th in the nation) the Wildcats had coming into Sunday's game. Parkinson led ASU with six rebounds while Kennedy Fauntleroy, Kennedy Basham and Brown pulled down five rebounds each.

The Sun Devils' aggressive play resulted in 21 free throw attempts, where they scored 17 of their points by shooting 81 percent at the line. 
 
The difference in the game arguably came down to the two categories where K-State (19-1, 7-0) outperformed its high national rankings: 3-point shooting percentage (38.2/No. 6 in the nation) and 3-point shooting percentage defense (23.7/No. 5 in the nation). Against the Sun Devils, K-State made 54.2 percent (13-24) of its attempts from beyond the arc – it shot 85.7 percent (6-7) in the third quarter in which it outscored ASU 29-18 – and allowed ASU to make only 16.7 percent (2-12) of its attempts.
 
Neither team led by more than five in the first 19-plus minutes of play.
 
Up by two points after 10 minutes, the Wildcats' Serena Sundell hit a 3-pointer 21 seconds into the second quarter to give K-State a 21-16 lead.
 
Only 10 points were scored over the next four-plus minutes and it was the Sun Devils who scored all of them. Brown started (pull-up jumper) and finished (four free throws) the 10-0 run – also includes baskets by Kennedy Basham and Nevaeh Parkinson – that gave ASU a 26-21 lead.
 
The last third of the third quarter could best be described as a 180-degree from the way ASU played that allowed it to go up by five. After Brown scored the last of her eight points in the quarter to put ASU up 28-24, the Wildcats fired up the crowd of 6,978 by scoring nine points in under two minutes to reclaim the five-point lead 33-28.
 
After Jyah LoVett hit a pair of free throws to trim ASU's deficit to three, the Wildcats took full advantage of an offensive rebound on the opposite end that allowed Temira Poindexter to hit a triple and give the Wildcats a 36-30 lead at the half. 
 
Brown, who came into the game with the top four totals for most points scored by a Sun Devil in a half, made it the top five spots after scoring 18 in the first half on Sunday.
 
As it would eventually turn out, the 10:02 comprised of the last 3:03 of the second quarter and the first 6:59 of the third quarter that did the most damage to ASU's hopes for an upset. Gisela Sanchez's 3-pointer capped a 36-17 K-State run that put the Wildcats up 60-45.
 
By the end of the quarter, the Wildcats took their largest lead of the game 65-48.
 
Down, but not out, the Sun Devils did not stop fighting in their quest to leave Manhattan with the upset. Trailing by 15 with under six minutes left, Jazion Jackson basket sparked ASU on both ends of the floor. Less than two minutes after Jackson's basket ASU was back within seven points after Tyi Skinner finished ASU's 8-0 run.
 
Neither team was able to post consecutive scores until the Wildcats made three free throws on separated possession to increase their lead to 79-69 with 49 seconds remaining.
 
Up next for the Sun Devils are home contests No. 20 West Virginia (Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Mullett Arena – click here for tickets) and vs. Cincinnati (Saturday at 4 p.m. at Desert Financial Arena – click here for tickets).