Elliott's near triple-double pushes Arizona State over Iowa State 77-68

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KANSAS CITY (AP) — Gabby Elliott had 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and No. 10 seed Arizona State beat No. 7 seed Iowa State 77-68 on Thursday in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament.

Arizona State (24-9) advances to face No. 2 seed West Virginia in the quarterfinals on Friday and strengthened its case for an NCAA Tournament berth. The Sun Devils improved their win total dramatically under first-year coach Molly Miller after finishing with 11 victories last season.

Arizona State set the tone early, jumping to a 17-2 lead behind Heloisa Carrera, who scored 12 of her 17 points in the opening stretch. The Sun Devils led 33-25 at halftime before Elliott ignited a decisive third-quarter run.

She opened the second half with eight straight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers, as Arizona State stretched the lead to double digits. The Sun Devils outscored Iowa State 27-21 in the third quarter and carried a 60-46 advantage into the fourth.

Iowa State pushed back late and trimmed the deficit to 68-62 on an Addy Brown 3-pointer with 1:41 remaining. Arizona State, however, did not allow the Cyclones to get closer than six points the rest of the way despite going nearly eight minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter.

McKinna Brackens finished with 16 for the Sun Devils.

Audi Crooks led Iowa State (22-9) with 21 points, while Brown added 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Arizona State plays No. 2 seed West Virginia on Friday in the quarterfinals.

Iowa State awaits an invitation to play in a postseason tournament.

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