ASU Women’s Basketball: Sun Devils struggle offensively in 50-35 loss to Washington

(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)

Arizona State Women’s Basketball again struggled offensively as it fell to Washington 50-35 on Friday night at Desert Financial Arena.

“It was a disappointing game,” Head Coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “We just couldn’t make shots. We’re just a young team. We needed some more second chance points. I was really happy with our offensive rebounding and disappointed with our defensive rebounding.”

Every Sun Devil struggled shooting the basketball, but perhaps the one who struggled the most was freshman guard Jaddan Simmons. She scored all her points from the charity stripe and was 0-9 from the field.

“I believe in Jaddan,” junior guard Taya Hanson said. “I just need to tell her to lighten up and to not put too much pressure on herself. I need to keep encouraging her and help set her up to make those shots.”

An atrocious first quarter from the Sun Devils was one of the main reasons they trailed 7-2 early. There was a lot of energy from both teams but it didn’t mean a lot of points came with it. ASU started 0-11 shooting from the field and the first and only basket scored in the first quarter wasn’t sunk until about five minutes in by freshman forward Katelyn Levings. ASU shot 1-17 from the field in the first 10 minutes of the game.

The second quarter was well played on both sides. ASU was dominant on the offensive glass, grabbing 16 offensive rebounds but converted it to just three second-chance points. The Sun Devils were not successful on a single shot from beyond the arc on 11 first half chances.

“Rebounding is effort,” Levings said. “Offensively we need to trust the process and translate our practices to the games. We weren’t finishing our shots. It’s just up to us to execute what we do in practice in the game.”

Washington juinor forward Haley Van Dyke was the leader on both ends of the floor in the first half. Herself and Washington freshman guard Tamieya Sadler led all first-half scorers with six points apiece with Van Dyke grabbing six rebounds and blocking two Sun Devil shots.

ASU quickly cut the deficit down to just one 56 seconds into the second half. Hanson hit the first Sun Devil three of the game and Levings scored her fifth and sixth points of the night to make it 20-19 Washington. After a three by Washington senior guard Alexis Griggsby, Hanson would respond back with a three of her own.

That would be as close as ASU would get though, as the Huskies would lead the rest of the way. Sophomor center Quay Miller, freshman guard Nia Lowery and freshman forward Alexis Whitfield anchored the response for Washington as they would extend its lead up to 11 about halfway through the quarter. The Sun Devils would slice it down to seven on four points from the free throw line heading into the final act.

The Sun Devils tried to get back into the game with multiple small runs over the course of the final quarter but it was to no avail. Easy baskets and free throws were the recipe to Washington’s success in the fourth quarter.

ASU shot 12-59 from the field (20.7 percent) while the Huskies shot 18-47 (38.3 percent). The Sun Devils shot 3-24 from beyond the arc with two threes coming from Hanson.

“We just couldn’t make shots,” Turner Thorne said. “We were wide open and had a ton of good looks but they didn’t go in.”

The Sun Devils have lost five of their last seven games. They will look to get back on track when they host Washington State on Sunday. Tip off is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. MT.