(Photo: Rebecca Striffler/WCSN)
Arizona State women’s basketball faced its southern rival and the No. 6 ranked Arizona Wildcats in the first of two back-to-back games. The last time these two faced off, it was an overtime thriller that resulted in a mark in the win column for the Sun Devils, however that was a year ago. After a year of not seeing each other on the hardwood, overtime was knocking on the door again before Arizona State was able to squeak away with an 81-77 victory over the Wildcats in an instant classic.
The game was fast-paced from the jump and ASU was ready for a war. The Sun Devils knew coming into this game it was going to be a dog fight, and there was only one mindset going into it: who wanted it more. Both teams were showing press, getting active hands early, and hustling on each possession.
“It is a matter of, well do you want it or do you not want it,” forward Mael Gilles said.
“Be dogs,” guard Taya Hanson added of the mentality.
The Devils hustle was prevalent throughout the game, but shined in the first quarter as they pulled down 15 rebounds compared to Arizona’s three. Gilles pulled down six boards in the first quarter, and helped keep possessions alive with three of those coming off the offensive glass. Gilles would post her fourth double-double of the year.
“Control the boards, control the game,” said forward Jade Loville.
Rebounding has consistently kept this Arizona State team in games, but what worked for the Sun Devils yesterday was the ability for Loville and company to get a hot hand.
The first quarter of play was back and forth basketball as the teams were tied six times after tip-off and the lead flipped four times. It was, per usual, Loville leading the Devils in the scoring barrage in the first half, but as head coach Charli Turner Thorne preached earlier in the year, she couldn’t wait to see what ASU could do when they have two or three scorers going at the same time.
“We were so due… when we can get two other people going with our defense I think we can beat anyone in the country,” said Turner Thorne.
Loville would finish with 27 points. Twelve of those coming in the first quarter on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting. Hanson and Gilles contributed 19 of their own. These three combined for 65 of Arizona State’s 81 total points and went 25-for-26 from the line.
Both teams had three players in double digits as Arizona’s Pellington ended with 30, Sam Thomas ended with 14 and the big Cate Reese dropped 18 of her own.
The one area the Sun Devils did struggle in was getting into foul trouble early. ASU had five girls with two or more fouls headed into the half. This led to 12 points off fouls for the Wildcats, and cutting this down could have created a larger deficit earlier in the game. This would lead to two crucial fourth quarter foul outs of Jaddan Simmons and Katelyn Levings.
Turner Thorne’s patented defense is known for creating havoc, and causing opponents to shoot well under their typical field goal percentage. Arizona State was able to flip the script as they are currently ranked last in 3-point percentage in the Pac-12 and the Wildcats are second. However, the Wildcats did not get a 3-pointer to go until late in the third and shot 4 of 14 for the game and the Sun Devils shot a marvelous 54.5 percent.
The fourth quarter was where the action heated up. Arizona State led by nine going into the final quarter, and Arizona was able to climb back and tie the game at 68 with five minutes to go. With a major fourth quarter scoring barrage, the Wildcats outscored the Sun Devils 25-20 in the final ten minutes, but it was not enough as ASU would walk away with a crucial late season win.
Arizona State will look to continue its three-game win streak as these two will face off again on Sunday, Feb. 13 at noon in Tucson.
“Its condensed into one day of regrouping ourselves, our minds… we already know this team we just battled them… It’s going to be a battle of toughness,” said Hanson.
