(Photo: Troy Tauscher/WCSN)
Arizona State travelled to the mountain schools, Colorado and Utah, for their final road trip of conference play.
The No. 22 Sun Devils started the weekend off in Boulder, Colorado, to take on the Buffaloes (16-11, 5-11).
ASU came into the game against Colorado riding the momentum from their sweep of the Washington schools the previous weekend. Their strong play continued against the Buffaloes.
The Sun Devils would have one of their best 3-point shooting games of the season Friday night. ASU shot 7-11 (63.6 percent) from 3-point range, their highest 3-point shooting percentage of the season so far.
Behind the efficient 3-point shooting and 16-point performances from seniors Ja’Tavia Tapley, Reili Richardson and Robbi Ryan, the Sun Devils came away with a 65-59 victory over Colorado.
The lights out 3-point shooting continued for ASU Sunday in Salt Lake City.
The Devils knocked down eight 3-pointers in the first half (5-5 in the first quarter) and led Utah (13-14, 6-10) 42-35 at halftime.
However, the Utes came out firing in the third quarter. Utah outscored ASU 26-15 in the period, and led ASU by four heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
The Sun Devils, who once led by 13 points Sunday afternoon, failed to mount a comeback as they fell 75-71 despite Richardson’s 22-point performance.
With the weekend split, ASU is now 9-7 in Pac-12 play (19-9 overall) with two games remaining against Cal and No. 4 Stanford.
Outside of the third quarter meltdown against Utah, there are plenty of positives that the Sun Devils can take away from the road trip.
Arizona State is shooting the ball as well as they have all season. The Sun Devils only shot over 50 percent from 3-point distance one time this season before the team’s mountain road trip (Jan. 17 against Washington where the Devils shot 57.1 percent from 3). During the weekend ASU had 3-point percentages of 63.6 against Colorado and 50 against Utah. If the Sun Devils continue to shoot the ball with numbers similar to this, they are going to be a tough opponent to beat for anyone in both the Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments.
Along with the increased offensive numbers, Richardson is playing her best basketball of the season. And that was no different this weekend against Colorado and Utah.
The senior guard is averaging 19.3 points and 4.8 assists with shooting splits of 47.9/51.6/83.3 over her last four games. When Richardson is performing at this high of a level it opens up the entire Sun Devils offense, and that showed in ASU’s shooting percentages over the weekend.
ASU will head back to Tempe to finish off the Pac-12 regular season against Cal (10-17, 2-14). Friday’s tip-off against the Golden Bears is scheduled for 8 P.M. MT.
