(Photo via Janaé Bradford/WCSN)
Not only was Sunday afternoon’s game against No. 4 Utah a celebration of ASU Women’s Basketball’s seniors – senior guard Isadora Sousa and graduate center Kayla Mokwuah – but it was also ASU’s final chance to earn a conference win at home. Although the task was tall, the persisting optimism of head coach Natasha Adair permeated the air in Desert Financial Arena.
The absence of Pac-12 Conference leading scorer and Utah junior forward Alissa Pili added to the optimism. But ultimately, the Sun Devils (7-18, 0-16 Pac-12) could not overcome the Utes (23-3, 13-3), narrowly falling short of a miraculous upset in a 74-69 defeat.
In Pili’s absence, Utah sophomore guard Gianna Kneepkens took over the Utes’ offense. After a slow start with just nine points in the first half, she finished the game with 22 points to lead her team to victory.
In a strange break from previous trends, ASU lost the game at the free throw line. The Sun Devils made one more shot than the Utes from both the field and beyond the arc, but Utah took advantage of its free-throw opportunities, outscoring ASU 22-14 from the charity stripe.
“It could be one stop. It could be that one shot. It could be free throws,” Adair said. “They went 31 times, and that for sure was a stat. But we still missed some. We went 22 (times). We make our free throws, the game could be different. And so those are just opportunities that we talk about – our winning opportunities, winning plays.”
Similar to past games, the Sun Devils came out on fire. Once again, their defense was firing on all cylinders, forcing the Utes to turn the ball over seven times in the first 10 minutes.
Following her pregame recognition, Mokwuah scored eight of ASU’s first 13 points. Junior guard Treasure Hunt helped with the other five, and together, the two combined to go 6-for-12 from the field to open the game.
But it wasn’t long before the Utes recovered from the opening-frame gut punch. Thanks to the towering duo of 6-foot-5 forward Kelsey Rees and 6-foot-4 Peyton McFarland, Utah’s advantage on the boards became clear. The pair helped their squad outrebound ASU 27-19 in the first half. With the offense to back them up, Utah finished the half with a two-point lead.
“We just needed to do a better job of corralling the ball, kind of stopping them short of the rim and making them take contested shots,” Adair said. “I thought they also did a great job crashing the (offensive) boards. Where we got the stop, I thought they got that second chance opportunity, and it was either and-one, or it put them back on the free-throw line.”
Another single-digit quarter – six points in the second – put the Sun Devils in a hole that they were forced to climb out of. Throughout the game, season-long stars Hunt and junior guard Jaddan Simmons fulfilled their usual roles – Hunt finished with 13 points while Simmons added eight points and six assists to her season totals – but it was role player and junior guard Sydney Erikstrup who broke out of her shell to keep ASU competitive.
On Sunday, Erikstrup recorded a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double, setting new season-highs in both categories. She was also 3-for-5 from beyond the arc and sunk all four of her free throws.
“We talked about Syd early on and her role, and it’s just been everything that we need,” Adair said. “…(She had a) double-double, and that’s the energy, that’s the effort, but that’s the extra work that she’s been putting in. … What you see now is what she’s been working extremely hard on in practice, and so I’m just proud that it’s translating to the game. … I don’t think this is a surprise, and I think that this will continue.”
Despite letting ASU hang around for most of the game, Utah closed the game like any top-five team should. With a trio of layups from Kneepkens and junior guard Issy Palmer, and a near-perfect 9-for-10 stretch from the free-throw line in the final two minutes, the Utes could let out a sigh of relief knowing they had avoided the possible upset.
As for the Sun Devils, they’ll need to find a way to carry their stellar home court play with them when they take on the Oregon schools on the road next weekend. Not only are those ASU’s final games of the regular season, but they will also be the Sun Devils’ final two chances to earn a Pac-12 win.
“I keep telling you guys, they’re fighting,” Adair said. “… It just gets closer and closer. I’m ready for it to be done being close, and I know they are. … these games are too close … but if our showing against these different teams are that as we’re growing and as we’re building, we’re not done. We’re not done.”
