(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
The Arizona State Sun Devils (11-4, 1-2) split their road trip in Los Angeles after losing to the No. 10 UCLA Bruins (14-0, 3-0) 68-66, Friday and beating the USC Trojans (8-6, 0-3) 63-54, Sunday.
The Devils fought off early adversity against the No. 10 ranked Bruins, battling back from a 13-2 UCLA lead early in the first quarter. However, senior guard Robbi Ryan kept ASU in it as they ended the first quarter down by five.
Ryan finished with a team-high 17 points, but an ankle injury in the second quarter forced her to come out of the game (she would return to the game later). Despite the injury, the Sun Devils were red-hot in the second quarter shooting 62 percent from the field. ASU concluded the first half down just four points.
Ryan would return from her injury in the third quarter and pick up where she left off, scoring eight points in the quarter. The senior guard’s 3-pointer with 3:29 left in the third quarter gave the Sun Devils a 50-46 lead.
ASU and UCLA started the fourth quarter tied at 56, but the Sun Devils were not able to outlast Japreece Dean (23 points) and the Bruins.
Friday’s loss was the second straight by less than five points against a ranked opponent for the Devils. But ASU had to put this loss behind them quickly because Sunday’s matchup against USC was important for a couple reasons.
The first reason being that Arizona State started 0-2 in Pac-12 play despite solid performances against two ranked opponents. ASU hasn’t had an 0-3 start in conference play since the 2009-2010 season, and with the level of talent in the Pac-12 this was a game where the Devils needed to pick up a win.
This game against the Trojans was also the first time that ASU senior forward Ja’Tavia Tapley played against her former team. Tapley spent the last three seasons with USC before transferring to Arizona State.
ASU came out slow to start things off, finding themselves down five points before an 11-0 run at the end of the first quarter kick started the Devils.
Arizona State would maintain this momentum through the second quarter and took a commanding 12-point lead heading into the locker room.
Arizona State kept their foot on the gas in the second half, as they had a double-digit lead for the majority of the half, and increased their lead to as much as 20 points. A major part of the Devils’ success came from sophomore forward Jayde Van Hyfte, who had a career-high 12 points.
“They were playing a little bit off of me tonight,” Van Hyfte said. “Charli said before the game if they do that I need to look to drive and attack.”
A late surge from USC and a little bit of sloppy play from the Devils caused the lead to get as low as eight points, but it would never get closer than that as ASU earned its first PAC 12 victory.“Every road win in this conference is a great win,” head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “We took charge of the game at the end of the first quarter and second quarter, and stayed in charge the whole way.”
ASU will now head back to Tempe as they get ready to face the Oregon schools this upcoming weekend. First up are the No. 2 Oregon Ducks and National Player of the Year frontrunner Sabrina Ionescu. That game tips off at 6 p.m. MT in Tempe Friday night.
