(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)
Arizona State fell to the Green Bay Phoenix 62-57 tonight in the semifinal of the Gulf Coast Showcase. Arizona State has been riding a four game winning streak to open their season, while Green Bay came in with just one loss and a few impressive non-conference victories over Purdue and Marquette.
Green Bay was able to steal the win in a thriller, as they scored 52 of their 67 points in the paint with red shirt sophomore Mehryn Kraker netting 19 and coming up big when it mattered to down the Sun Devils late in the second.
The game started off fairly even as the two teams traded baskets after the tip until Green Bay was able to grab an early six-point lead. Yet, with Elisha Davis and Kelsey Moos leading the way, the Sun Devils went on an 11-0 run in the middle of the first to get ahead.
ASU did a good job of forcing turnovers during that run, but the Phoenix didn’t help themselves as they missed several open shots and committed a lot of sloppy mistakes on offense.
Kelsey Moos turned in her most impressive performance of the year, netting 13 points in the first half on her way to a season-high of 15. The sophomore forward was able to get open from mid-range multiple times and her teammates found her for easy looks.
That isn’t to say that the Sun Devils executed perfectly, as they committed ten turnovers to a mere five assists in the first. The lack of ball movement led to tough shots being forced up, as they hit just one of seven three-point attempts in the first half.
As mentioned earlier, the Phoenix weren’t able to do much either in the first and the two teams remained near equal in points with the Devils leading by one after the first buzzer sounded.
The second half started off with a bang as ASU came out firing early and got out to a nine-point lead in the first two minutes after halftime. But the Phoenix, headed by their leading scorer Kraker, were able to storm back and keep the game within reach.
Sophie Brunner lead the way for the Sun Devils in the second as she was able to re- discover her scoring touch, finishing with 13 points, shooting 6-11 from the field.
ASU Head Coach Charli Turner-Thorne is usually known for trying to get in fresh legs throughout the game, but the Devil bench struggled to get involved with the starters contributing most of the offensive production.
With the reserves having a tough time in this one, ASU seemed unable to put the Phoenix away in the second. The Sun Devils got out to multiple five-point plus leads but Green Bay always seemed to climb their way back within one or two.
With about two minutes left in the game, Green Bay finally stole the lead on a backdoor cut to the rim by Kailli Lukan. Green Bay never took their foot off the gas and ran away with this one, as the Sun Devils were unable to get a stop on defense and just couldn’t find a clutch bucket in crunch time.
Katie Hempen and Elisha Davis attempted to shoot ASU back into this one with each finishing with double-digit points, but their efforts were in vain as Green Bay knocked down some key free throws at the end to seal the deal.
The Phoenix advance to the Gulf Coast Showcase Final where they will face the winner of UCONN and Vanderbilt.
ASU’s next game will be for third place in the showcase against the loser of that game.
