ASU Women’s Basketball: Sun Devils threaten but fall short to No. 1 Stanford

(Photo: Travis Whittaker/WCSN)

The Sun Devil women’s basketball team (7-3, 3-3 Pac-12) fell to the nation’s top-ranked Stanford Cardinal (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12) by a score of 68-60 in a promising showing for the young squad at Desert Financial Arena on Sunday night.

Arizona State tipped off the game with three freshmen on the court. It was the same lineup head coach Charli Turner Thorne ran in its game against Cal on Friday, and the fifth unique lineup the team has had this season.

Turner Thorne faced off against her former college coach, Tara VanDerveer, who she played for at Stanford. VanDerveer became the all-time winningest NCAA Division I coach last month.

The Sun Devils got off to a slow start, a common theme throughout their season. Arizona State scored just four points in the opening quarter, shooting 1-16 from the field and trailing by as many as 17 points.

The second quarter couldn’t have been more different for the Devils, as the team turned around their ability to shoot and went on a 13-2 run. They would outscore the Cardinal 21-15 in the second and shrunk their deficit to six.

In the second quarter, both teams displayed their abilities from beyond the arc. Junior guard Taya Hanson, who was coming off a career-high 21-point game, helped the team get back into the contest with back-to-back three pointers as part of her 15-point performance.

“We just picked up our defense,” Hanson said. “In the first quarter we gave them a lot of transition layups, we just weren’t working hard and we weren’t ourselves. That’s been happening consistently. So in the next few games we’re really trying to focus in on that and starting strong, because if we would have started strong today we could’ve taken that dub.”

Both teams continued to battle in the second half with ASU bringing the Cardinal lead to as close to four. Stanford went on a run to end the third that helped get its footing and secure the eight-point win, its smallest margin of victory this season.

Stanford also showed why it is the top-ranked team with its skills from under the rim, creating opportunities that led to 44 of its points being scored in the paint. Sophomore guard Francesca Belibi put up a 23-point double-double for the Cardinal.

The Sun Devil defense still played a strong game, forcing 17 turnovers and holding Stanford to 20 points under its average score.

Junior guard Iris Mbulito made her return to the court after suffering a shoulder injury against UCLA on December 6. She only participated in one practice before the game and played a limited number of minutes. The junior had a gritty defensive stop near the beginning of the second quarter and drew two key fouls.

“It was just fantastic having Iris back out there,” Turner Thorne said. “A lot of courage for her. She had one short practice under her belt…she knew how much we needed her and we couldn’t have had that performance without her.”

Freshman guard Jaddan Simmons led the team with 16 points and made a perfect seven shots from the free-throw line, showing that the young Sun Devil roster can stack up against the more experienced opponents on their schedule.

“Coach Charli already told us we can’t play like freshmen,” Simmons said. “Honestly out of all the freshmen, I think everyone just knows that and came in ready to do that so next time we’ve just gotta take the game and finish it.”

The Sun Devils were without their leading rebounder Eboni Walker and Bre’yanna Sanders due to COVID protocol. In their absence, freshman forward Maggie Besselink led the team with seven boards.

While Turner Thorne said the team isn’t about moral victories, this game was still a display of how the Sun Devils can compete with any team in the country.

“This team, in every game we’ve played, we’ve shown good toughness,” Turner Thorne said. “I think we’re just continuing to grow our toughness muscle. The really cool thing about it is that the things we’re not doing are very practical and the things that we have are the things that can lead to a great season.”

The Sun Devils will go back on the road after their previous trip was cut short to face the Washington State Cougars (6-1, 4-1 Pac-12) on Friday January 8. Tip off is at 5 p.m. MST, and the game can be streamed on the Pac-12 Network.