(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
The No. 17 Arizona State Sun Devils (9-2) improved upon their six-game winning streak by winning their seventh straight 68-52 over the Fresno State Bulldogs (6-4) Thursday afternoon. The Sun Devils and Bulldogs played a tightly contested first quarter as Fresno State elected to defend the Sun Devils with a three-quarter court press, slowing down the ASU offense and stopping them from getting out on the fastbreak.
With students on Winter Break and the Sun Devils on the cusp of a week-long break of their own, head coach Charli Turner Thorne said getting by Fresno State without a letdown was the biggest focus.
“When you are a little flat and you don’t have your best stuff, it’s nice to have options and I thought different people kind of spotted people,” Turner Thorne said.
Those who are familiar with this year’s Sun Devil squad are accustomed to seeing balanced scoring throughout the roster. However Thursday afternoon saw just two Sun Devils score in double-figures. Senior guard Courtney Ekmark scored a game-high 17 points and senior forward Kianna Ibis added 15 of her own as the two veterans led the offensive output for the Devils.
Ekmark’s 17 points came on a high volume of attempts, setting new season-highs in both total attempts (18) and three-point attempts (14).
Arizona State was ahead for most of their non-conference finale but grew their margin of victory in the fourth quarter. The Devils led 35-28 at the break, and 53-45 after three quarters of play, but took complete control of the contest at the beginning of the fourth quarter as a 6-0 run opened up by an Ekmark three-pointer extended their lead to 14.
Ekmark said the focus of the second half was to get out in transition, something the Bulldogs’ three-quarter court press stopped them from doing early on.
“[Pushing it in transition] is something that we always like to do,” Ekmark said. “I think when we do that we’re really hard to guard. So, it’s good that we kind of woke up and started running them a bit in the second half.”
The Sun Devil offense, which shot 44.8 percent from the field against the Fresno State defense, continued to excel despite the Bulldogs’ defensive strategy. Ibis said that adapting to their opponents will be key for her squad during Pac-12 play.
“It’s always good to mix up your offense,” said Ibis, who shot 46.7 percent from the floor against FSU. “The first half of the season we didn’t see a lot of zone so it’s good to have two games where they mostly played zone to see how our offense is against the zone and try to find our best offense.”
With the Sun Devils non-conference slate complete, Turner Thorne said she’s looking forward to a short break before opening up conference play with a trip to Tucson. The Sun Devils, ranked No. 17 in the nation, will head to play the Arizona Wildcats after a 10-day layoff. Tip-off on Dec. 30 is scheduled for 5 p.m.
“I think we’re all ready for a break,” Turner Thorne said. “I’m just glad we could do what we do and sometimes the Sun Devil way is just win ugly.”
