The Arizona State Sun Devils upset No. 2 Oregon at home Friday night, taking down National Player of the Year frontrunner Sabrina Ionescu and the Ducks, 72-66.
Although the game ended in the Devils favor, for most of Friday night’s contest the Sun Devils trailed.
In the first quarter the Ducks jumped out to an 8-2 lead before Charli Turner Thorne burned her first timeout. Ruthy Hebard got Oregon rolling as she had their first six points, all in the paint.
The game was back-and-forth in the first quarter until a cold stretch from the Devils plus some hot shooting from Taylor Chavez and Jaz Shelley gave Oregon a nice 23-15 lead. Chavez and Shelley went three for three on three pointers in the last two minutes leading the Ducks on a 9-3 run to cap off the first quarter.
The second quarter remained close despite Oregon shooting an impeccable 60 percent from the field.
Even though ASU trailed at the half, head coach Charli Turner Thorne believed that her team could pull off the upset.
“I told our team at halftime, ‘when you win, celebrate like you won the national championship because it means you’re good enough to,” Turner Thorne said.
The Sun Devils went into halftime trailing by five points and immediately cut the lead to three behind two Jayde Van Hyfte free throws. Then Oregon star senior guard Sabrina Ionescu decided she had had enough. The NCAA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles willed the Ducks on a 12-7 run that extended Oregon’s lead to 12 points.
At the start of the fourth quarter the Devils were down 12 points and on the verge of defeat. After a cold first half in which senior guards Robbi Ryan and Reili Richardson scored a combined six points, the Sun Devil backcourt duo went for 23 second-half points.
Arizona State and Ionescu traded bucket after bucket as Ionescu scored Oregon’s next eight straight points. Ionescu scored 24 points, while adding 10 rebounds and 4 assists in the game.
Ryan finished the game with 17 points, while Richardson finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Ducks had to resort to fouling with under a minute left, but twice Reili Richardson was up to the challenge, sinking four straight free throws to close out the win.
Richardson said that even though the win over No. 2 Oregon was the biggest game of the season, she did not feel any pressure.
“I just practice my free throws a lot and when I do shoot free throws, I put my pressure on myself so when I get into these situations, I can make them,” Richardson said.
Junior forward Bre’yanna Sanders came into the game and was a spark off the bench for the Devils. Despite only playing 10 minutes, she finished the game with three points and four rebounds.
Starting ASU forward, Ja’Tavia Tapley said that with Russell’s absence someone had to step up and fill her minutes and Sanders did just that.
“She brings the same thing in practice,” Tapley said. “So even if it shows that she doesn’t get reps in games she’s ready and she showed that.”
After knocking off the number two team in the nation, senior guard Robbi Ryan attributed the win to the chemistry the team is starting to develop.
“It feels great. I just feel really proud of our whole team. Everybody stepped up and it was a big team win,” Ryan said. “Just having that toughness and connectedness and staying together, I think that’s what really made the difference.”
On Sunday the Devils have another tough task ahead of them as they will play No. 3 ranked Oregon State at home. Although the Sun Devils completed the upset Friday, Turner Thorne said that she will not let her team ride too high heading into Sunday’s showdown with No. 3 Oregon State.
“Emotionally this is really draining. We will have to hit the reset button,” Turner Thorne said. “How can you not get up for the number three team in the country?”
