(Photo: Rebecca Striffler/WCSN)
Arizona State took on No. 2 ranked Stanford (15-3) in what was everything head coach Charli Turner Thorne did not want. The Sun Devils fell big to the Cardinal, 78-50.
The first quarter did not go the Sun Devils way, as Arizona State only produced an abysmal 4 points, and this carried into the second quarter, where they did not put up a point until a minute in. The Sun Devils trailed early due to an impressive amount of turnovers and missed shots from the Devils. They struggled everywhere offensively, coughing up 16 turnovers that led to 19 points for Stanford.
The defensive side of the ball was not much better for the Sun Devils. Each time Stanford came up the floor, Arizona State was outmatched, and it showed at every position. The Cardinal guards found themselves isolating any ASU defender and the bigs were getting their way to the rim. This came at the expense of being completely outsized. It seemed that every time a Sun Devil went to the basket they were met by one or two Cardinal players.
The biggest positive for the Devils’ was their elite scorer in Jade Loville. Loville led the team in scoring with 19 points for the game. Loville reached an impressive number, surpassing 1000 career points with her first bucket of the game.
Going up against a top 5 team is never easy, let alone playing them twice in a year. Stanford is an elite program and well-coached. The Cardinal are well-rounded, they have no weaknesses, but the Sun Devils found a way to win the offensive rebound battle. Arizona State found themselves down 36-17 going into the half, and a third of that 17 came from second chance points.
Turner Thorne talked early in the season about the ability to get the bench players active, and that was a slow start for the Sun Devils, as the bench players only produced 3 first half points. Arizona State finds the most success, when they are getting the three pointer to fall, and the ball was not dropping for the Devils. Shooting a dreadful 3-17 from beyond the arc, the only points fell from the mid-range and inside the paint.
However, this is the old stomping grounds for Turner Thorne. The Sun Devil head coach played basketball in college for Stanford, and always has an appreciation when coming back home.
The Sun Devils look ahead as their next game is next Friday in Tempe against the Oregon State Beavers.
