ASU Women’s Basketball: Loville’s 34 points leads Sun Devils past San Diego

(Photo: Brendan O’Keefe/WCSN)

Amidst COVID-19 scares throughout the sports world, the Arizona State Sun Devils hit the road for their eleventh game of the season.

Charli Turner Thorne and her squad headed to San Diego to take on the Toreros with hopes of avenging their loss from last week’s game against Creighton. ASU’s slow start on the offensive end has been a problem this season, and last week appeared to be the latest edition in the trend.

But this time, the Sun Devils’ offense came out with aggression, building a lead that would hold for the entire game. In fact, in Arizona State’s 79-60 victory, ASU led for 34:35 of the 40 minute contest. Leading the offense was Jade Loville, who finished with 34 points on 12-for-15 shooting. The 34-point effort for Loville was the most points scored by a Pac-12 player in any contest this year.

In previous games, Turner Thorne has described her offense as “settling” at times. She has advocated for her team to drive to the basket, which would result in trips to the free-throw line. Against San Diego, Loville drove to the basket and found her way to the charity stripe eight times. The eight attempts marked a new season-high for the 5-foot-11 forward, who leads her team in free throw attempts with 28 on the year.

Adding to the offense was Mael Gilles, who finished the game with 17 points and seven rebounds. Gilles managed to find her groove by knocking down shots from downtown and in the paint. The 6-foot-1 forward also managed to go 3-for-3 from the line.

Even with the strong offensive presence, ASU would need to increase its defensive intensity to create a significant lead. The opening quarter was far from perfect on the defensive end, which allowed USD to end the quarter with a 21-20 lead.

Arizona State displayed a dominant defensive effort for the remainder of the game, which limited San Diego to 13 points per quarter.

Leading the defensive surge, was senior guard Taya Hanson and sophomore guard Jaddan Simmons. The duo each contributed three steals and forced San Diego into poor shots. The defense the two displayed allowed them to get baskets in transition, scoring a combined 17 points.

Arizona State also posed a threat inside the paint by cleaning up the glass. Gilles managed to grab seven rebounds, which was a team-high. Adding to the rebounding effort were Loville, Simmons and Jayde Van Hyfte, who combined for 13 rebounds. Turner Thorne has preached rebounding the basketball all season and explained the importance after their 91-54 victory over Harvard by saying, “You control the boards; you control the game.”

Arizona State’s victory marked their sixth of the season and first win away from Desert Financial Arena. Before the holiday break, the Sun Devils will return to Tempe for a game against the UC Irvine Anteaters. Before UC Irvine’s 74-66 victory over San Jose, they lost their matchup against San Diego, 75-64. The matchup will take place on Dec. 21 at noon MST.