ASU Gives Lehigh Their First loss to Start off Classic

(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)

In the first game of the ASU Classic, the Arizona State Sun Devils put up another solid performance, beating the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 81-61, never relinquishing their lead. Despite coming into the game undefeated, Lehigh wasn’t able to match the power of ASU’s offense that has now put up at least 80 points in two straight games.

 

It was easy to tell early on that this ASU offense would have another strong outing, with five quick points within about two minutes of the game starting from shooting guard Katie Hempen and a coast to coast layup from Kelsey Moos to start her scoring. Hempen ended the day with 15 points, leading an ASU team that had five players in double digits on the night.

 

Once again the Sun Devils started out the game with a scoring run, this time being an 11-0 run over Lehigh. Elisha Davis comments on how nice it is to start the game with that kind of lead.

 

“[Starting with a run] allows us to feel more confident and have that good energy that we need as a team to come together and to attack them.”

 

Coming into the classic, Lehigh was averaging 78 points per game, and ASU held them to 17 points under that average. ASU’s defense forced 16 turnovers including eight steals, scoring 15 points off of those turnovers. However, Coach Charli Turner Thorne wanted more from her defense.

 

“Not super happy with our defense. Our biggest goal was not to be in the bonus either half and not give them their free throw offense… we didn’t have a bad defensive game, but the things we were really focused on, which were not fouling them, we just have to do better at not fouling.” Coach said after the game.

 

Player of the Game: Quinn Dornstauder
Coming off of scoring her career high 19 against Illinois State on Wednesday, power forward Quinn Dornstauder continued her extremely hot streak, putting up 12 points and 7 rebounds. Dornstauder has averaged of 13.7 points in her last three games. ASU’s bench play has been improving since the start of the season and Dornstauder has been a big part of that. If ASU’s bench is going to continue to get better, Dornstauder will need to keep up her recent dominance on the court.

 

Stat of the Night: 42 Points in the Paint
ASU loves finding easy layups in the paint, and they certainly succeeded in doing so against Lehigh. 42 of the 81 points ASU put up were in the paint, helping ASU hold a comfortable cushion throughout the game. ASU didn’t rush any offensive possessions, which made it possible to find players like Sophie Brunner, Kelsey Moos and Quinn Dornstauder under the rim and let all three of them score double digits.

 

What’s Next:
ASU plays again tomorrow in the final game of the ASU Classic, against the winner of the Eastern Illinois and Northwestern game. Tipoff is at 2:30 PM MST at Wells Fargo arena.

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