(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
Friday afternoon was filled with history for the No. 19 Arizona State Sun Devils (16-5, 6-3) in their 76-75 win over USC (11-9, 3-6). Head Coach Charli Turner Thorne earned her 500th career win in the program’s first ever triple overtime appearance.
“It makes you reflect on all of the incredible players and staff,” Turner Thorne said on her 500th career victory. “When you reach a milestone win like this it gives you a chance to really appreciate all of the relationships that I’ve had through college basketball.”
Senior guard Reili Richardson shined when the lights were the brightest, scoring a team-high 24 points along with the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining in triple overtime.
Richardson made more key buckets than just the game-winner. The senior guard scored 19 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter and three overtime periods.
“I didn’t make all my shots throughout the game,” Richardson said. “I just wanted to keep shooting, and knock down shots that I can knock down.”
Those big shots by Richardson helped an ASU offense that had an uncharacteristic 26 turnovers.
This gave USC the opportunity to get back into the game in the second half. The Trojans were down eight at the break with 16 turnovers of their own.
USC turned the ball over only five times throughout the remainder of the contest. The Trojans freshman guard Endyia Rogers, who finished with a game-high 30 points, shot the Trojans back into the game.
“Rogers is playing really well we talked about that going into the game,” Turner Thorne said. “We probably should have mixed it up a little more on her.”
This game was another example of the Pac-12 conference’s relentlessness. ASU went and handled USC on the road only 26 days ago. But, even with the extra practice time the Sun Devils had, due to the fact they only played one game last week, the Trojans pushed ASU for 55 minutes of action.
“I think every win in the Pac-12 is very important,” senior guard Robbi Ryan said. “You can’t look over any team and you have to come ready to play every day.”
The Sun Devils will enjoy this win, but their weekend is just getting started. They face No. 8 UCLA Sunday, the third AP top-10 team to come into Desert Financial Arena this season.
The last game between the Devils and the Bruins came down to the final play, but it was UCLA who came away with a 68-66 win back on Jan. 3.
“We made shots in that game, but defensively we were nowhere [near] where we normally are,” Turner Thorne said about the team’s performance in the previous matchup with UCLA. “They’re going to pressure, so we have to get our pressure releases going and do better at taking care of the ball.”
The Sun Devils are unsure if they will have freshman guard Sarah Bejedi for the game Sunday. Turner Thorne said Bejedi was unable to return to the game after she exited the game with an injury during the second overtime period.
The game Sunday against UCLA will tip-off at 12 p.m. MT in Tempe.
