(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
It’s official. The Sun Devils have found their groove. For the first time in over 20 years an unranked NCAA women’s basketball team has defeated two top five teams in back-to-back games. After defeating No. 2 Oregon on Friday night in Tempe, the Sun Devils rode that momentum to a second consecutive top three upset, capping off a historic weekend with a 55-47 upset of No. 3 Oregon State Sunday afternoon.
From the get-go the Sun Devils came to play. Although Arizona State (13-4, 3-2 Pac-12) quickly got down four points to start the game, the Sun Devils responded with a 13-0 run to end the first quarter. Jamie Ruden led the run and scored seven consecutive points on perfect shooting from the field.
In the second quarter, senior guard Kiara Russell immediately made her presence felt in her first game back from a foot injury she suffered during practice. Although it may not show up in the stat sheet Russell was a key cog in the Sun Devil machine on both ends of the floor tonight.
“She’s a great leader on the court,” Ruden said about Russell. “She knows plays, she knows what everyone should be doing, she knows defensively our game plan so she’s always holding people accountable.”
Unlike the Oregon game, the Sun Devils were up seven points heading into halftime versus the Beavers due to a gritty team defense. The Devils held the Beavers to a measly 18.8 percent from the floor, including 0 percent from beyond the arc on ten attempts.
The third quarter proved to be a little bit of a test for the Devils, but they were up for the challenge. The Beaver offense came alive, outscoring the Devils 18-15, but ASU would not give up the lead. Sophomore forward Jayde Van Hyfte and senior guard Robbi Ryan came up big and ended some key Oregon State runs with clutch buckets.
Oregon State continued to chip away at the lead and junior point guard Destiny Slocum capped off the comeback with a game-tying 3-pointer. Arizona State then called a timeout to regroup. Forward Ja’Tavia Tapley said that head coach Charli Turner Thorne’s message in the timeout fueled the team’s play over the final two minutes.
“Coach made sure she told us they get no more,” said Tapley, who scored a game-high 14 points in the win. “And we made sure we stayed solid to that and played as hard as we could on defense.”
The Sun Devils came out of the timeout and ended the game on a 10-2 run. Reili Richardson, Ryan and Tapley once again all stepped up when it mattered most. Tapley scored six of her 14 points in the fourth quarter, Ryan chipped in four and Richardson made all six of her free throws to secure the victory. Tapley finished with six rebounds to go along with her 14 points, while Ryan and Richardson pitched in 10 points apiece.
As Arizona State has gotten healthier, the Sun Devils are clicking. Ruden said that if ASU continues to play team defense and clean up the glass, she believes there isn’t a team they can’t beat.
“I think we’re doing a good job of just showing up and focusing on what we can control. Which is how hard we’re working and our positive energy and with that anyone can win any night.”
