ASU Women’s Basketball: Devils upset Oregon State to advance to semifinals

(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)

After six minutes of scoreless basketball for the Arizona State Women’s Basketball team, juniors Courtney Ekmark and Kiana Ibis led ASU on a 9-0 run in the closing stretch of the fourth quarter to defeat the Oregon State Beavers 57-51.

The duo combined for 32 points with Ekmark pouring in 18 and Ibis finishing with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. The two were valuable down the stretch in a game that featured 10 lead changes including six the third quarter alone.

“To see this team come together today and dig deep, and I think we went on a 13-0 run to close it out and take the game was really special,” ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said.

Another key to the upset was limiting Marie Gulich, the center was held at bay for most of the night finishing with only six points after dropping 36 points in the previous meeting between the two teams.

The senior center scored four points in the first period and was held scoreless until the third where she put in her final points on the night.

“I’m not sure why she couldn’t get in there this game,” Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck said. “She had a hard time getting deep against them.”

A combination of Sun Devils began the 9-0 run with Ibis who was followed by Ekmark who hit her fifth three-pointer on the night. The shot was followed Ibis with two more baskets to extend the run to nine and take the lead with 2:02 to go in the game.

“When we were coming down to the last quarter we knew we had to take it so we just tried to stay as aggressive as we could,” Ibis said.

Following the run, it was a combination of Reili Richardson, Robbi Ryan, and Ekmark to put the game away from the free throw line.

It was Ryan, Ekmark, and Ibis who combined for 44 of the teams 57 points and carried the team both offensively and defensively.

“We were looking to stay aggressive and looking to play for each other and with each other and that’s the biggest thing,” Ryan said. “Just moving for each other, taking good looks, and try and stay poised and not settle on offense.”

A reoccurring theme for the game became evident from the beginning with ASU grabbing two offensive rebounds on the first possession of the game. The Sun Devils would finish the quarter with five offensive boards and the game with 16.

Ekmark got ASU going early with a pair of threes in the quarter to take a 12-7 lead after one quarter. The Sun Devils were unable to take advantage of the offensive boards in the quarter with only two second-chance points despite the offensive boards.

The second quarter was a tale of two halves of the quarter with the Beavers jumping out to a 9-0 run to take the lead in the quarter. This was followed by an 8-0 to end the quarter by ASU as Ibis and Ryan led the way to build a 26-21 lead into the break.

Katie McWilliams came alive for OSU in the third quarter as she scored 11 in the quarter to burden the offensive scoring for the Beavers to give them a 46-44 lead heading into the fourth.

The Sun Devils will now take on Stanford in their third meeting of the season between the teams as they split the season series one game apiece.

“It’s going to be a grudge match,” Turner Thorne said. “We really liked our bracket, just kind of where it played in terms of just how our Pac-12 season went. It will be challenging, but we’re going to be up for it.”

The game is set for 8:30 p.m. PST at KeyArena in Seattle, Washington.