ASU Women’s Basketball: Sun Devils rely on defense to push past VCU

(Photo: Troy Tauscher/WCSN)

Sun Devil women’s basketball (2-0) got its second win to open the season in a 49-40 defensive clash against the VCU Rams (1-1) at Desert Financial Arena Friday night.

The first three quarters were tight as both teams had stretches where they couldn’t find the basket. A series of defensive stops and drawn fouls against VCU helped the Sun Devils pick up the tempo and pull ahead in the fourth quarter. The final nine ASU points came at the free-throw line.

In both of its first two contests, the young Sun Devil roster struggled to shoot, going 15-65 from the field Friday against the Rams, while making just one basket from behind the arc. Head coach Charli Turner Thorne’s squad relied heavily on their ability to convert points from in the paint and shoot from the line to outpace the Rams.

“For a team this young to show the toughness that they’re showing this early in the season I’m really pleased,” said Turner Thorne. “The poor shooting is related to that we’re not in sync at all offensively. I think we were so unsure with the mixed up defenses in the first game. I feel like VCU doesn’t usually zone that much and we didn’t really anticipate that, but we adjusted pretty well for the second half.”

The team picked up the slack in the paint, grabbing 26 offensive rebounds which led to 11 second-chance points.

The Atlantic 10 Conference favorites pressured the Devils heavily throughout the game, making the Devils play through contact on drives and forcing ASU to commit 20 turnovers.

Sophomore forward Eboni Walker notched her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds. She played tough from under the basket, battling for loose balls and managing to keep multiple Sun Devil possessions alive.

“I take pride and do what I can for the team,” Walker said. “So if that’s like saving a possession that’s flying out of bounds or getting a rebound after they miss a shot, that’s what I’m going to do. So it’s just having my teammates’ backs at the end of the day.”

In the final minutes, sophomore guard Sydnei Caldwell drew two key charges that brought the Devils’ bench to their feet and helped swing the momentum during scoring slumps. Caldwell also came up with several defensive stops as the Devils brought VCU to a 6-minute scoring drought in the fourth quarter.

“Whatever it takes, whatever I can do to help the team win in any way, I’m going to do it,” Caldwell said. “Whether it’s taking a charge, diving to the ground. Anything we need I’m going to try to do my best to get the job done.”

Junior guard Taya Hanson picked up where she left off in the Devils’ last game, scoring seven of ASU’s 13 points in the first quarter to get them out to an early lead. She also came up with big plays on the defensive side of the ball, with six rebounds and three steals.

“It comes down to our defense,” Hanson said. “We were really aggressive today, came out really strong, struggled a bit in the middle of the game with some fouls but we definitely picked it back up.”

The Sun Devil’s final non-conference game will come against the Saint Mary’s Gaels (0-1) as they close out the Global Sports & Events Tip-off in Tempe on Monday before jumping into a 23-game Pac-12 schedule. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. MST, and the game will be available through the ASU live stream on Pac-12 Plus.