ASU Women’s Basketball: Sun Devils quickly transition focus to USC and Pac-12 Tournament

(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)

It was only three days ago that the Arizona State women’s basketball team shocked rival No. 9 Arizona at the buzzer. The Sun Devils united and rejoiced at half court, while dousing head coach Charli Turner Thorne with water in the locker room after the game.

Now, ASU has to quickly switch gears with the Pac-12 Tournament starting this week in Las Vegas. The team is seeded ninth in the tournament and will play eighth-seeded USC on Wednesday at 3 p.m MST in its first round matchup from the Michelob ULTRA Arena at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Turner Thorne spoke during her media availability on Monday about how important ASU’s win against Arizona was and how it could propel them to a possible run in the tournament.

“I’m just really proud of our team,” Turner Thorne said. “We’ve been up and down … For them to just regroup and keep things in perspective and stay positive was tremendous I thought, and they showed great grit yesterday.

“I think we can make a good run. We haven’t done that — good game, not so good game. That’s been our pattern, so that’s our big challenge going into March now.”

ASU’s chances of making the NCAA tournament will depend on how long that run can last. It all starts with stopping USC sophomore guard Endyia Rogers and the rest of the Trojans, who could pose a threat even with their record being 10-11.

“They’re as talented offensively as any team that we play in the Pac-12,” Turner Thorne said. “There’s not anybody like, ‘Oh, you wouldn’t have to guard this person’ with USC. They’re challenging.”

The Trojans’ three main weapons are Rogers, graduate transfer forward Jordan Sanders and sophomore forward Alissa Pili.

The offense goes through Rogers, who leads the team in points per game (15.2) and assists (87). USC’s constant use of ball screens allow her to create opportunities for herself and her teammates.

In her last game against ASU on Jan. 31, Rogers scored 30 points to lead the team to a 65-57 victory.

On the perimeter, the Sun Devils have to watch out for Sanders, who is second in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage (46.8 percent). USC also has a strong paint presence in Pili, last year’s Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and 6-5 sophomore center Angel Jackson, who leads the team with 4.6 rebounds per game.

On Arizona State’s end, the two constant threads amid its turbulent season have been the play of freshman guard Jaddan Simmons and junior guard Taya Hanson. Both were recognized by the Pac-12 this week for their efforts.

After Simmons’ performance against the Wildcats on Sunday, the conference named her Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. She scored eight of the team’s 11 overtime points, and had 15 points for the game. Simmons is averaging 10.9 points per game this season, second-highest on the team.

Hanson received two season awards from the conference on Monday: All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and All-Defense Honorable Mention. The 5-10 guard from Kelowna, British Columbia is 10th in the conference in scoring (13.0 ppg) and third in three-pointers made per game (2.55).

Hanson hit a huge three-pointer to put the Sun Devils ahead 65-62 with 56 seconds left in overtime against Arizona. After the game Hanson said that it was “probably the biggest shot in my career so far.”

With such a short turnaround, the Sun Devils will once again have to rely on Hanson and Simmons to lead the way if they want to get past USC and make noise in the tournament.

“We don’t have a lot of prep time,” Turner Thorne said. “(An) overtime game with a lot of minutes logged, but we’ll get our crew ready.”