(Photo: Alex Roddier/WCSN)
The drought was going on six minutes and thirty-five seconds. The No. 19 Arizona State Sun Devil offense was one for its last eight, and zero for its last four. Despite the lackluster shooting at the end of regulation, the Sun Devils found themselves tied with the California Golden Bears for the thirteenth time in the game, 61-61, with 27 seconds remaining.
Coming out of the timeout, head coach Charli Turner Thorne opted to put the ball in the hands of her junior guard, Reili Richardson.
Knowing that the Golden Bears would do whatever they could to keep the ball out of senior forward Kianna Ibis’ hands, Richardson said she knew she had to make a play.
“They take things away from [Ibis], because they are going to key on her, so I just step up,” Richardson said.
With the shot clock turned off and nine seconds remaining on the game clock, the Sun Devil guard most known for her assist-to-turnover ratio, drew a foul and headed to the free throw line. There, she made one of two free throws to give ASU a 62-61 lead with 4.7 seconds remaining.
Following a timeout by the Golden Bears, California had one last chance to grab their first win in Tempe since Feb. 8, 2015.
As Cal inbounded the ball, Richardson ditched her assignment at the top of the key and dashed to the painted area to help senior center Charnea Johnson-Chapman, who had been sealed off by Cal senior forward Kristine Anigwe.
“I knew they were going to lob,” Richardson said. “I was just in help-side for my teammate.”
Richardson’s decision allowed her to be in position to swipe the ball out of Anigwe’s hands, preventing the Golden Bears leading scorer from adding to her 21-point, 16-rebound performance. The ball rolled along the baseline and a last-ditch off-angle shot from Asha Thomas landed in the hands of Johnson-Chapman as time expired. With the clock at zeros, the Sun Devils’ senior center heaved the ball in the direction of the Arizona State bench as the Devils celebrated their first win over a ranked opponent in the 2018-19 season.
Entering Sunday with a loss to No. 6 Stanford and an impending road trip to play the Oregon Ducks and Oregon State Beavers, two teams ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll, Turner Thorne said it was good to get out of Sunday with a win.
“From a coaches perspective you’re like, ‘oh my gosh. We’ve gotta go play two top-10 teams on the road. Please show up in this game,’” Turner Thorne said. “There’s no easy weekend. There really isn’t. But obviously going up [to Oregon] 3-2 is a lot better than going up there 2-3 and getting a little tougher and playing a little bit better on both sides of the ball today was fun.”
After being held to just six points in Friday’s 72-65 loss to Stanford, Ibis responded with her most efficient, well-rounded offensive performance of the season. The Sun Devils points per game leader finished with 26 points – just one shy of her season-high set a week prior in a road win over Colorado – and was the only member of the Arizona State roster in double-figures in scoring.
“I would just say today I felt more aggressive,” Ibis said. “Charli got at me and told me that I needed to be more aggressive and I needed to step up and be a big playmaker for the team, so I just told myself today ‘I’m gonna be aggressive today, and I’m gonna be confident and stay confident and not get in my head.’”
Ibis offensive showing was highlighted by a 75 percent shooting percentage, including going 4-for-4 from both the free throw line, as well as the three-point line.
With the win, Arizona State improves to 12-4 (3-2 Pac-12), and California drops to 10-5 (1-3 Pac-12). The Sun Devils head to Eugene to take on No. 5 Oregon Friday Jan. 18 at 7 p.m.
