(Photo: Brooke Faber/WCSN)
With a final score of 74-55 over the Ohio Bobcats, Arizona State has stormed in to the NCAA Tournament guns blazing and taking no prisoners.
On their way to scoring the most points they’ve had in four games, Arizona State saw offensive production from everyone that stepped on the court tonight, shooting 56% from the field. Katie Hempen led the scoring with 23 points on the night, dropping five threes.
“Charli and all my teammates were like ‘Katie, you shoot like 1,000 threes all the time, so you’re going to make them, they’re going to fall’. Just their support is amazing.” Hempen said after the game.
The Ohio Bobcats started the game hot; driving to the basket to get a quick eight points, but then became stagnant and allowed ASU to go on a 16-2 run in the middle of the first half. That run helped ASU stay ahead for the rest of the game. This was the Bobcats first NCAA Tournament appearance in over 20 years, but they are excited for the future.
“I think [getting back] is the goal. That’s the goal for every team,” coach Boldon stated after the game, “We’ll give the kids time off, and get back to the gym and try to get better.”
For the second straight year Arizona State won in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and now they face the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans, who upset Texas A&M earlier today, 69-60. Last year they had a second round exit, losing to Notre Dame who would go on to face UConn in the championship game.
Player of the Game: Katie Hempen
As mentioned earlier, Hempen had 23 points along with her 4 rebounds and near perfect free throw shooting (6/7). Hempen got her career high on just 11 shots and helped seal this victory for the Sun Devils. Hempen not only scored for the Sun Devils, but was fighting for every loose ball and rebound she was near, getting knocked on the ground at least three times in this outing. Hempen was physical, determined, and had a hot hand. There’s not much more you could ask for in a player in a game, especially of this magnitude.
Stat of the Night: 20 points off of turnovers
The Sun Devils didn’t have a lot of fast breaks, but they capitalized on Ohio’s turnovers throughout this game, putting up a total of 20 points off of their turnovers. Having good possessions off of turnovers will be important for the Sun Devils moving forward, and it’s a good sign that they started off the tournament doing so.
Biggest Concern: Ohio’s Late Run
Ohio went on a 13-0 run in the middle of the second half, which isn’t too concerning in this game seeing as the Sun Devils were up by 30 and in control of this one, but it’s either evidence that ASU got a bit sluggish coming out of the half or they were letting off of the gas pedal, neither of which they should be doing on this stage. The Sun Devils did recover towards the end of the game, which helped bring it back out of reach for the Bobcats, and it may be a bit nitpicky to find a concern in this game, but it should be a concern going forward.
Arizona State has one final home game for this tournament when they take on the University of Arkansas-Little Rock Monday night. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. MST at Wells Fargo Arena.
