(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
One of the staples of the ASU women’s basketball program over the last two decades under head coach Charli Turner Thorne has been defense and rebounding. This weekend at Wells Fargo Arena, both of those elements were on full display.
ASU swept its two-game homestand over the weekend against Washington and Washington State.
Over the course of two games, ASU held both opponents to an average of 33 percent shooting from the field, and they out rebounded both schools by a margin of 72-47.
Along with double digit offensive outbursts from sophomore guard Robbi Ryan and redshirt junior forward Courtney Ekmark, the Sun Devils’ suffocating brand of basketball wore down both opponents from the Northwest.
“I feel really good about our team right now, and just how much they are kind of gelling as a team and just growing in their toughness in terms of when they need to make plays, and just pushing, and not taking possessions off,” Turner Thorne said.
On Friday, Ryan and Ekmark combined for 29 points and ASU shot 54 percent from the field in a clinic performance against Washington.
At the half, ASU led the Huskies by 23 points and they would never look back en route to a 61-41 victory.
As for Sunday afternoon, ASU was daunted with a precarious Washington State squad. The Cougars are 3-8 in the Pac-12 conference, but that does not tell the whole story.
The Cougs have been without their head coach June Daugherty due to medical reasons, and the team has played a competitive brand of basketball with some of the conference’s elite opponents, despite their record.
In Pac-12 play, Washington State has suffered single-digit losses to highly-touted opponents such as No. 9 UCLA and No. 25 Cal.
With that in mind, the Sun Devils came ready to play on their home floor Sunday.
“That team (Washington State) isn’t done. Mark my words, they are going to beat some people down the stretch,” Turner Thorne said. “They haven’t probably had the season that they thought they were going to have. I mean, I predicted them in the top half of the conference…they are so dangerous.”
Nevertheless, ASU was able to handle Washington State in the second half of Sunday’s contest.
For the majority of the first half, ASU and Washington State were locked in a defensive stalemate that had both teams shooting below a 30 percent shooting clip.
However, in the last two minutes of play in the first half, ASU went on a 6-0 run headed into the locker room to give the team a 28-21 advantage.
With just a slight bit of breathing room heading into the locker room, ASU made some adjustments and grabbed the reins in the second half.
“I thought we were a little more patient in our dribble-drive, and we executed our dribble-drive offense a lot better in the second half,” Turner Thorne said.
ASU finished the game with five different players in double figures in a well-rounded win.
Among notable scorers, Ryan and Ekmark continued their scoring tear, with Ekmark recording 18 points and Ryan tallying 10 points and eight rebounds.
Junior forward Kianna Ibis also had yet another stellar day at the office, dropping 16 points with 11 of those points coming in the second half.
“I think the main thing is that we have to make sure our defense is locked in so that even if our shots aren’t falling, then we can still stay in the game” Ekmark said. “Eventually, we know that if we keep working on offense, we are going to get good shots.”
One of the intriguing aspects of ASU’s defensive showcase Sunday was the team’s ability to guard within a zone set.
Throughout the majority of the season, ASU has played matchup one-on-one defense with opponents.
On Sunday, that narrative was changed when the Sun Devils played a full 40 minutes in a matchup zone defense.
Nevertheless, ASU was not phased as they held the Cougs to 34 percent shooting from the field and they out rebounded them 49-23 in a smothering performance.
“We didn’t want them to hurt us from the inside so we challenged them to take outside shots,” said Ibis of the decision to go with the zone look.
With back-to-back wins against the Washington schools, ASU is now on a three-game winning streak after a deflating loss at Stanford that knocked them out of the AP top-25.
Since that game in Palo Alto, ASU has put down the clamps and they seem to be hitting their stride at just the right time in Pac-12 play, something that is crucial during the ebbs and flows of a rigorous Pac-12 slate.
Up next, the Sun Devils will travel to Southern California to take on USC and No. 9 UCLA. Tipoff between ASU and USC is set for Friday, Feb. 9, at 8 p.m. MST.
“I feel really good about where we are at right now in terms of these guys being confident and playing really well together,” Turner Thorne said. “It’s connected as they have been…these wins were huge wins for our team.”
