(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
2.1 seconds. That is all the time that junior guard Reili Richardson had to make a smart play with the basketball.
Almost a full second elapsed as she entered the top of the key and rose to launch what would be the final shot attempt of regulation at the Huntsman Center.
In the air, Richardson, one of the more experienced guards on the team, contorted her body to try to draw a foul call from head referee Clarke Stevens.
Stevens would not oblige, and with 0.8 seconds left Richardson launched a wild shot that would either end the game or send the Sun Devils into their first overtime period of the season.
At first, it appeared as if Richardson’s gamble to ignore proper shot form in favor of an attempt to get the charity stripe would not pay off, as the shot looked long. But as the horn sounded, Richardson’s last second fling careened of the background and found the bottom of the net, giving the No. 22 Arizona State Sun Devils their 10th win of the season in thrilling fashion over previously unbeaten Utah..
As improbable as that shot was, maybe even more unlikely was how they got to that position in the first place
With a little over 90 seconds left in the game, Utah forward Megan Huff attacked the lane and scored for her Utes. The senior gave her squad a six point lead and potentially delivering a dagger in the side of the Sun Devils.
In years past, the Sun Devils may have packed it in and accepted defeat. But this team’s depth and experience are the team’s greatest strengths, and those were the attributes that brought ASU back into this game.
First, senior forward Kianna Ibis, hit a three-pointer on a beautiful out-of-bounds play designed by Charli Turner Thorne fresh out of a timeout.
Then, after a ASU stop, Ibis let another one fly from behind the arc, and the Sun Devil’s most consistent player this year connected, tying the game just seconds after trailing by six.
Ibis scored six of her 11 points in the span of 40 seconds, but as characteristic as many Sun Devil this season, it was a team effort that got the Devils to the finish line.
Charnea Johnson-Chapman, Ibis’ paint partner, just missed a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds. Courtney Ekmark went 2-6 on threes and 5-12 from the field for a team-high 15 points.
Utah led by as much as nine points early in the second half, and shot 50 percent from the field as a team. They were spearheaded by a sterling performance from Megan Huff, who finished with a game-high 17 points and Daneesha Provo, who complemented the performance of Huff with 13 points of her own.
However they failed to score in the final 1:34 of the game, when a basket in that time span would likely have put the game away for good.
Instead, the Sun Devils get their first conference win of the season against a previously unbeaten Utah squad. This was an important win for ASU, as after a seven-game winning streak was snapped in the Pac-12 opener in Tucson, back-to-back losses to start Pac-12 play may have derailed all the good feelings about this team to start the season.
In a year where the conference appears to be the most dense in the nation, ASU needs to keep pace. Wins like this go a long way towards that goal.
Side Notes
ASU finished the game on an 8-0 run in the last 1:34 to flip a six-point deficit to a two-point victory.
Robbi Ryan had her worst game of the season against Utah. The most telling statistic of the night for Ryan was a plus/minus of -18 when she was on the floor.
ASU won the game despite shooting 40 percent from the field, compared to 50 percent for the Utes.
The Devils dominated the glass, outrebounding Utah 36 to 29.
Both teams are now 1-1 in conference play. Arizona and UCLA are the only teams in the conference with records of 2-0.
Up Next
Arizona State will play Colorado (10-3, 0-2) in Boulder on Sunday at 2 P.M. The game can be found on the Pac-12 network.
