(Photo: Brendan O’Keeffe/WCSN)
TEMPE – On Sunday, Arizona State Women’s Basketball took on Harvard in a battle in the trenches. The Sun Devils would walk out of Desert Financial Arena with a 91-54 victory over the Crimson.
“[I have] pride knowing that this is our house” senior forward Mael Gilles said when asked about ASU getting multiple wins at home this weekend.
ASU did the dirty work early. Most importantly, the Sun Devils were dominating the boards. Gilles would lead the team in rebounds with 12 and helped ASU command the rebound battle and dominate the glass 61-18.
It was not just defensive rebounding either. ASU grabbed 23 rebounds off the offensive glass and it led to 25 second-chance points.
“That is the rebounding effort that I have been waiting for,” ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “That’s a great team win, we put everything together today.”
The Sun Devils came into the game with confidence after a dominating win against UTSA on Saturday. Turner Thorne continued her intense defensive scheme and it could be assumed that it will stick for the rest of the season.
Previously, ASU’s defense was causing turnovers and disruption, but the Crimson held onto the ball well. However, every shot the Crimson took a Sun Devil hand was there to meet them. The Crimson would walk into the locker room at halftime shooting an abysmal 6/30 from the field.
Everything was going right defensively for the Sun Devils, but it seemed that everything was going perfectly on offense. The ball movement was crucial in the Sun Devils’ success. ASU found open shots and got them to fall. The Sun Devils were led by senior guard Jade Loville who dropped 19 points and led both teams in scoring for the game.
Three-point shooting has been an inconsistency in ASU’s system, but this game it found its groove early. The Sun Devils struggled in their game against UTSA from beyond the arc but were nothing short of successful from three point land on Sunday. The three-ball fell nine times for the Sun Devils.
ASU has relied upon its bench performance game in and game out this year. Once again, the bench performed to supply 37 points, lead by senior guard Ayzhiana Basallo’s 14. Turner Thorne came into this weekend with one thing in mind.
“Get better,” Turner Thorne said. “To be a better rebounding team … get our offense going and then just continue to play better together, we are starting to know each other better … we are definitely not where we will be.”
Scoring came easy for the Sun Devils in Sunday’s game, and they did it on every level. The Sun Devils found success running up and down the floor.
The Sun Devils biggest mishaps on Sunday were taking care of the ball and getting into foul trouble. The Sun Devils coughed up 19 turnovers. However, they were able to limit the consequences as the Crimson scored only 11 points off of turnovers. The Crimson shot 20 times from the line and converted 16 times.
The Sun Devils wrapped up the weekend going 2-0 in the ASU Classic. ASU lines up against Creighton in its next matchup in Omaha on Sunday, Dec. 12.
