Arizona State Struggles Against Zone Defense

(Photo: Haley Spracale/WCSN)

The Arizona State Women’s basketball team extended their record to 3-1 in non-conference play after an impressive defensive showcase versus Cal Poly on Sunday night. The Lady Devils prevailed 66-41 despite lacking offensive firepower.

The box score will say the Devils shot abysmally from the field. The team shot 35% from the field and a measly 7-31 from three.

“We don’t really want to shoot that many threes unless we are on fire.” said coach Charli Turner Thorne.

The team struggled mightily on the offensive end in part due to the unorthodox style of defense played by their opponent.

What the box score fails to unveil is that Cal Poly ran a sound 2-3 zone for the entire forty minutes of the contest. Turner Thorne said the team did not “anticipated forty minutes of zone.”

This type of defense is virtually outdated in the basketball world. It is a system that relies heavily on rotation and paint protection while daring the opponent to attack from the perimeter. This ultimately forced the devils to hoist up a season-high 31 three-pointers.

Even with the lack of efficiency from the field the Sun Devils seem optimistic going into tournament play this weekend. When asked about the teams performance point guard Reili Richardson stayed positive.

“We didn’t knock down all the shots we wanted,” Turner Thorne said. “But we got some good stuff out of this.”

Coach Turner Thorne sang a similar tune when asked about the zone coverages effect on her team.

“All the things we want them to do didn’t really show up today, but they usually show up in practice,” Richardson said. “So I think we really have a lot to look at in our zone offense.”

The Sun Devil Women’s Basketball team will travel to Florida to partake in the Gulf Coast Showcase. Tournament play for the Devils will begin on Friday, November 29th at 3:00pm when they take on Maine.