ASU Women’s Basketball: Sun Devils get by Stephen F. Austin for season opening win

(Photo: Misha Jones/WCSN)

It wasn’t pretty, but the Arizona State Women’s Basketball team grabbed a 56-47 season opening victory over Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday night in the Global Sports & Events Tip-off at Desert Financial Arena.

Stephen F. Austin cut their deficit to just one point with 3:43 left in the game, but a 10-0 ASU run broke open the game and sealed the victory.

“We knew they won 23 games last year and would be a good team,” ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said postgame. “It was really challenging to play a team that had three different presses in our first game with such a young team.”

Junior guard Taya Hanson shared similar sentiments to her head coach.

“We’re a young team and just getting the ball rolling,” Hanson said. “It’s been a difficult situation right now dealing with COVID, but we’re learning to punch back and come together as a team.”

The first game was a sloppy one as there were 44 turnovers between the two teams, but the defensive intensity was there on both sides. Hanson along with freshman Jaddan Simmons each grabbed two steals.

Hanson praised Simmons and the other freshmen’s efforts in their first game.

“I am so impressed with them,” Hanson said. “They came into this program with their whole heart and soul and they have poured everything they can into this season in preparation for that. We’re going to continue to build.”

Freshman Katelyn Levings appreciated Hanson’s leadership throughout the game.

“She brings a lot of energy to the team and she motivates me every single play,” Levings said. “After every shot I missed, she came up and she told me the next one was going in. She drives me to keep going.”

Junior Jamie Loera led the Sun Devil efforts in the first quarter, knocking down two three pointers and scoring eight points helping them build a 16-10 lead. She also grabbed a steal and assist to boot.

“It felt great. I had my teammates on my side and they really trust me,” Loera said. “I was super excited to get back out there because it’s been awhile.”

A 6-0 run in the second quarter stretched the Sun Devil lead to 10 with the help of Iris Mbulito, Bre’yanna Sanders and Eboni Walker. They were 3-8 from beyond the arc in the first half and had nine turnovers. Both of those stats would go in the wrong direction in the second half.

The Devils would hit a wall scoring wise in the third quarter. They went 3:29 without scoring in the beginning of the quarter, then had another 2:42 of no scoring as the quarter ended.

Hanson scored four of her team high 14 points in the third, giving them some stability. Just before the buzzer hit, Walker hit a tough fadeaway shot to push the Devils’ lead to 40-36 as the teams went into the final stanza.

That is when things began to turn in the wrong direction. ASU’s lead went up to six with Walker sinking two free throws. The lead stayed at six at 44-38, but five turnovers and seven missed shots later, Stephen F. Austin had made it 44-43. After Simmons and Levings sinked free throws to push the lead to four, Mbulito and Hanson would take it from there, scoring the next seven points to extend their lead to 54-43 with 21 seconds remaining.

“It was a tough matchup with a team like Stephen F. Austin mixing up their defenses as much as they did,” Turner Thorne said. “We played through a lot of missed shots and grew our toughness muscle today. It was a good team win.”

ASU’s next game is Friday against VCU with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m. MST.