(Photo:Brooke Farber/WCSN)
18 seconds left on the clock, ASU down 48-46. The ball is inbounded to Katie Hempen, she drives to the middle of the court and hits a huge three-point shot five seconds later to put Arizona State ahead of Cal.
Game over, right? Wrong.
Cal leading scorer on the night Mikayla Cowling dribbles in and fires up a shot with just over a second left to win the game, but it’s off target, causing some Sun Devil fans to celebrate. Those same Sun Devil fans didn’t see Cal’s Penina Davidson bring down the rebound and sink one last shot, despite being surrounded by three Sun Devils, before the buzzer went off, sealing a Golden Bears.
Rebounding was an issue that had been bothering Arizona State all night long. What the Sun Devils have in speed, they give up in size, especially to a team like Cal with seven players at least 6-foot-2 or taller.
ASU kept up with Cal, pulling even with them in total rebounds at 36 per team through the first 39:58, but the last two seconds of the game were the only ones that counted.
“We were a little soft on the ball, and then we needed help-side and that opened up the weak-side board,” said Coach Turner Thorne. “If we had stayed aggressive and not gotten beat we would’ve been matched up and that never would’ve happened.”
While this particular slip-up in defensive execution did cost the Sun Devils a game, it by no means a reason to start worrying about this team.
Arizona State has one of the top rebounding margins in the Pac-12 at +5.8 per game, and consistently out-rebound bigger teams.
On top of that, it was just a below-average shooting night for ASU. The Sun Devils shot just 32.3% from the field, against Cal while the Golden bears shot an impressive 48.8%, and still almost managed to pull out the win.
If we’ve learned anything from watching this team fight all season long, it’s that they’re one of the most resilient teams in the country. They own up to their mistakes, get back in the gym the next day and work to get better.
“We’ve got to get better in [rebounding],” said Turner Thorne. “I know that they’re going to take it to heart now.”
