(Photo via Janaé Bradford/WCSN)
ASU Women’s Basketball was faced with a tall task Friday, metaphorically and literally, as it matched up with No. 18 Oregon in Tempe.
With four players measuring 6-foot-2 or taller, the Ducks (12-3, 3-1) held a significant size advantage over the Sun Devils (7-8, 0-4) that proved to be too much for the home team to overcome. Falling 82-62, ASU was once again outrebounded 56-40 and outscored 29-5 on fastbreaks.
ASU head coach Natasha Adair has emphasized this season that she wants her team to play a full 40 minutes and not just play well in stretches. However, it seems that the Sun Devils still have a long way to go in terms of consistency, as Friday was another example of a game slipping away suddenly.
At 2:30 in the second quarter, sophomore forward Meg Newman converted a fastbreak layup to give ASU a 26-24 lead and capped off a 6-0 run. However, the Ducks responded immediately, ending the quarter on an 8-0 run.
The third quarter was a chance for the Sun Devils to get back on track and improve their 298-206 deficit in third quarters this season. Instead, it was more of the same. They were outscored 27-14 in the period. After the game, Adair stated that her team needs to do a better job at responding to runs rather than letting them snowball into extreme deficits.
“When teams make a run, we can’t let that affect us the way that we do because every team is going to make a run,” Adair said. “That’s just where we have to continue [to have a] next-play mentality… I just felt like there were moments where we lost focus. You turn it over. You lose focus. They make you pay.”
The Ducks were able to do whatever they wanted inside, scoring 16 points in the paint in the third quarter alone. Freshman forward Grace VanSlooten was vital for Oregon’s domination, scoring 12 points on 5-7 shooting in the third quarter after being shut out in the first half.
Despite the Ducks’ lead reaching as much as 28, the Sun Devils managed to close the gap in the fourth by ending the game on a 20-12 run. However, with ASU unable to overcome deficiencies in rebounding and transition defense, it was too little too late to mount a comeback.
“With any team, let alone the teams in this league, a top team in the country, you can’t give them easy opportunities in transition. You can’t give them those easy opportunities at the rim,” Adair said. “I thought our team played hard today, but there were moments where we just had to finish, and that’s what we will continue working on.”
Standout transfers junior guard Tyi Skinner and junior guard Treasure Hunt once again loaded the stat sheet for ASU, although their efforts were futile. Skinner poster another 20-point performance, her eighth of the season, and Hunt added a solid 17-point, 12-rebound double-double.
The Sun Devils have now lost seven of their last eight games and fallen under .500 for the first time this season. Despite the slump, however, Adair says that this stretch has not negatively affected the team’s morale.
“Our locker room is not a locker room that is dejected,” Adair said. “Our locker room is a locker room that’s hungry and that’s going to keep fighting. There is still a whole lot of basketball to play with a group that is still building a culture and learning one another, and you learn a lot about each other in the fire and in adversity. I’m excited about our group. I know it’s tough, but I’m always going to see the positive.”
