ASU Women’s Basketball: ASU takes both games from Territorial Cup series

(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)

TUCSON — ASU women’s basketball picked up a series sweep over its in-state rivals on Sunday afternoon at the McKale Center.

ASU upended Arizona 69-45 in a complete team effort against the Wildcats. Every active player scored for the Sun Devils, with junior forward Kianna Ibis leading the way.

Ibis tallied 14 points on 5-6 shooting and was a force to be reckoned with in the second half.

“It’s hard to play your rival team back-to-back,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “It’s a lot of emotion…it doesn’t matter what your record is when you come into a rivalry game.”

With that in mind, ASU came into Tucson and laid the hammer down from the opening tip.

The Sun Devils began the game on a 7-0 run while playing a suffocating brand of defense against the Wildcats.

ASU forced five turnovers within the first five minutes of Sunday’s contest, and the Sun Devils controlled the glass, out-rebounding Arizona 40-22 in the game.

Sophomore guard Robbi Ryan followed her new career-high in points on Friday with a 10-rebound performance on Sunday. The rebound total marked yet another career-high for the sophomore from Wyoming.

“We are trying to focus on rebounding and we weren’t doing the best job in the first half,” Ryan said. “At halftime, we said that we were going to be more aggressive and just work on getting in and boxing out…I just kind of went into the second half with a rebounding mentality.”

Along with Ryan, sophomore forward Jamie Ruden tallied 14 points, and redshirt junior forward Courtney Ekmark recorded 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

“My teammates are able to get open shots for me, and they were looking for me out on the court, and I know that I can trust them,” Ruden said.

The tandem of Ruden and Ekmark was a matchup nightmare from the perimeter, and the ability to stretch the floor hindered the Wildcats throughout the game.

Junior forwards Sophia Elenga and Charnea Johnson-Chapman also provided big minutes for the Sun Devils.

Although the two post presences didn’t have huge point totals, their presences were felt underneath the basket, where they combined for 12 rebounds and a variety of hustle plays that allowed ASU to gain extra offensive possessions.

Between Elenga, Johnson-Chapman, Ibis and Ruden, Turner Thorne was pleased with her frontcourt, especially as the Sun Devils look to make a push toward March.

“That four-post rotation right now, I think it’s got to be one of the strongest in our conference,” Turner Thorne said. “People have great posts, but those four, we can kind of go with any combination and they are all bringing a lot to the table.”

While a variety of players came up big for ASU on Sunday, one specific player provided an extra boost.

After being limited in practice throughout the week and not playing on Friday night, sophomore guard Kiara Russell returned to action on Sunday, and she was ready to play from the moment she stepped on the floor.

A few minutes into the game, Russell checked in for ASU. Off of an inbounds play, the point guard stepped into a passing lane, grabbed control of a loose ball, then sped down the length of the floor to give ASU an early shot of energy off of the bench.

“She’s definitely a spark for us,” Ekmark said of Russell. “She brings a ton of energy to the game and just having her back has been awesome, and we all love playing with her.”

After back-to-back losses in Southern California last weekend, the two Territorial Cup victories over Arizona will look to put the Sun Devils back on track.

A large contingent of ASU fans made the trip to Tucson on Sunday, and the arena was scattered with maroon and gold.

With two games against No. 9 Oregon and No. 15 Oregon State next week, the Sun Devils will look to close out their regular season with two statement wins against two schools that knocked off the team in January.

ASU currently sits fifth in the Pac-12 conference, and they will look to possibly leapfrog Oregon State pending next weekend’s games in Arizona.

Tipoff between ASU and No. 9 Oregon is set for Friday, Feb. 23 at Wells Fargo Arena.

“These are two great wins in the Territorial Cup,” Ryan said. “This isn’t just for our team, it’s for our university, so these are big games, so I am just proud of our team and how we came out and worked.”