(Photo: Riley Trujillo/WCSN)
Faced with a hostile crowd and the most efficient team in women’s college basketball, the No. 19 Arizona State Sun Devils put up a tremendous effort against another Top-10 opponent, but eventually fell to No. 5 Oregon 77-71.
This 2018-2019 season has to feel like the equivalent of a broken record for the Devils. Yet another monster matchup. Yet another tremendous effort. Yet another crushing defeat.
A week ago, Seniors Courtney Ekmark and Charnea Johnson-Chapman described the frustration and angst the team was feeling after losing to No. 6 Stanford by another slim margin. The Sun Devils were within one point with under five minutes remaining.
Instead of dwelling on the negative though, ASU should look to the positives to build on from this game. To learn and grow, and make sure they can do in the tournament what they’re struggling to do now, close games out.
And there was an abundance of good things to take away from this Oregon loss for Charli Turner Thorne and her staff. Specifically, the play of Jamie Ruden and Taya Hanson.
Ruden had her best game of the season by far against Oregon, scoring 12 points on 5-8 shooting. Hanson contributed all six of her points in crunch-time, aiding the Sun Devils charge back into the game after trailing by as much as 11 in the fourth quarter.
Kianna Ibis was stellar as usual, scoring 12 of her 22 points in the second half. Five of those points came in a 90 second span for Ibis, including a three-pointer which cut the deficit down to a single possession and sparked a wild four-minute closing stretch.
Arizona State was within one point at 67-66 with just under three minutes remaining after a Taya Hanson corner three, but Sabrina Ionescu added to the lead with a jumper on the next possession. ASU would never get as close for the rest of the game.
That was the difference for the Devils in the second half. Every time they went on a run, Oregon found just enough to keep them at bay. Sabrina Ionescu was as advertised for Oregon. She gave the Devils fits all night long, scoring a game-high 31 points on 10-20 shooting.
This was the Devils’ fourth loss to a Top-10 team. But the circumstances this time are a little different than the three previous. This is the first top-ten game for ASU in a true road environment, and the Oregon crowd was active for most of the night.
Even after a losing effort, the team can feel good about how hard they competed all night long, After being down 13 in the third quarter, ASU could have accepted defeat and packed it in.
But they didn’t, instead they fought all the way to the end. The heart and resolve this team showed all game long should have Charli Turner Thorne and ASU fans very happy with the direction of the team.
Never giving up is a major piece to the puzzle that is closing out college basketball games. The Devils have now lost to four Top-10 opponents this season, all by single digits. Once they break through in these games, they will be a very dangerous team.
ASU has another chance at a Top-10 team when they travel to face No. 10 Oregon State in Corvallis on Sunday. Tip is at 3 p.m. Arizona time and can be seen on Pac-12 Network.
