(Photo: Brooke Faber/WCSN)
After narrowly beating Utah, ASU will seek to finish the regular season on a five game winning streak heading into the Pac-12 tournament, but first they will have to best Colorado on Sunday.
While Arizona State can no longer win or share the title of Pac-12 champion, they can tie for their second best finish in school history at 26 wins on the season. Colorado on the other hand looks to complete a mini winning streak of their own, hoping to finish a losing season on an upswing.
The Sun Devils will also be celebrating their senior night, commemorating their one senior, Promise Amukamara who has had herself a great season, being named Pac-12 Player of the Week twice.
Keys to the Game:
Slow Down Jamee Swan
Jamee Swan has had a nice two game run for Colorado, scoring 15 and 20 points against Oregon and Arizona respectively, and has been averaging 13.4 points per game on the season. The Arizona native does a great job of driving and posting up in the paint, and it will be up to Kelsey Moos, Sophie Brunner and Quinn Dornstauder to stop her from getting those layups.
Score Early On
Against Utah the Sun Devils only scored 18 points in the first half and the offense just couldn’t get anything going. ASU was great early on in the season at starting games fast and creating big leads and they just haven’t been able to do it as of late. There is a wear and tear as the season goes on and fatigue does set in, but the #10 ranked team in the county can’t continue to score only 18 points in a half against teams like the Utes.
Bench Support
With Kelsey Moos being out for about two weeks and then limited in the game against Utah, the bench has had to step up and it’s been a mixed bag so far. Ayanna Edwards almost seemed to get thrown in once Moos went down, but she’s shown so much improvement in just these two weeks that it gives me more confidence that the bench can come together. Edwards, Eliza Norman and Peace Amukamara have all had their bright spots within these last few games but the offense has been too reliant on the starting five.
Prediction:
This should be an automatic win for ASU, but Utah should have been as well. None the less, ASU will pull this one out on what will be an emotional day for Promise Amukamara and the team as a whole.
