ASU Women’s Basketball falls to UCLA after struggling in second half

(Photo: Misha Jones/WCSN)

TEMPE – Arizona State earned Head Coach Charli Turner Thorne’s 500th career win Friday, after defeating the USC Trojans 76-75 in triple overtime. Celebration regarding Turner Thorne’s accomplishment came to an abrupt halt Sunday. Another Southern California team traveled to the desert in No. 8 ranked UCLA.

The final score from the historic USC game fails to tell the full story. The Sun Devils struggled severely on the offensive end. Inconsistency shooting the ball combined with a sloppy half-court offense let USC hang around a lot longer than expected; 55 minutes to be exact!

A second-half eruption from senior guard Reili Richardson secured the victory and the 500th win for her head coach. This night saw Richardson score a career-high 24 points (19 in the 4th quarter and overtime periods). Along with the game-winning three-point field goal with 1.9 seconds remaining in the third overtime.

48 hours after an unpretentious but notable victory over USC on Friday, the Sun Devils fell to UCLA 70-61. The same setbacks that plagued the squad on Friday afternoon reappeared on Sunday. The team continued to struggle with offensive production, turnovers and second-chance points against UCLA.

Turner Thorne was not pleased with her team’s offensive production or defensive effort.

“It just wasn’t a normal Sun Devil effort,” Turner Thorne said. “I don’t think I’ve ever coached a team that has given up this many open shots.”

Offensively the team had their fair share of mishaps. The team shot 38 percent from the field and turned the ball over 16 times. Turner Thorne attested this inefficient and sloppy style of play to “mental breakdowns” and “not knowing the playbook.”

ASU dominated the offensive boards in the first half grabbing 15 to UCLA’s seven. The second half was a different story, as the Devils had difficulty containing the Bruins on the glass. ASU only grabbed two offensive rebounds to UCLA’s seven. The Sun Devils were also outscored 13-2 in the second half on second-chance points, compared to a first-half where they were only outscored by two points.

“This is obviously on us.” said ASU forward Jamie Ruden, “We just didn’t have enough effort on the boards.”

It was a tale of two halves in Desert Financial Arena. ASU failed to make the proper adjustments in pivotal game situations.

“We just have a lot of breakdowns with this group that we don’t normally have,” Turner Thorne said.

She was “disappointed” in her team. ASU will look to play with more consistency and effort on Feb. 7 when they travel to play No. 10 Oregon State. Turner Thorne will be looking for more effort and focus from her team.