ASU-UCLA weekend preview

After two consecutive wins over the U of A Wildcats to end a seven game losing streak, the Lady Devils are ready to finish strong in the last two games of the season.

“We’ve had a rough season, and it’s not really about how we started or how it went, but we’re determined to just finish strong and finish out these last games strong,” junior starter Joy Burke said.

The Sun Devils, who are now 4-11 in conference play and 13-15 overall, still have two games left against UCLA and USC.

Despite the strong morale as a result of the wins over the Wildcats, the Lady Devils have a lot to work on if they want to come out on top against both California teams, starting with UCLA on Friday.

It was a close match-up the last time the Sun Devils faced the Bruins, but in the end, the Bruins were able to come out on top 54-50.

During the first game against the Bruins, Arizona State finished with 19 turnovers and only shot 36 percent from the hardwood. Contrastingly, the Bruins shot 41.3 percent and out-rebounded the Lady Devils by nine.

Since the loss to the Bruins, the Sun Devils have had fewer turnovers, averaging around ten per game in the past few games.

However, in the game against the Wildcats, the Sun Devils totaled 16 turnovers. In order to be successful against the Bruins, ASU will have to get that number back down toward the single digits.

In addition to turnovers, the Sun Devils will have to transition quicker both offensively and defensively.

“We never really got our transition game going either, I didn’t feel like. We maybe had one or two in the second half,” coach Turner Thorne said in an interview following the win over the Wildcats.

Point guard Adrianne Thomas will need to use her speed to push the ball and her team up the court quickly in order to make points before the Bruins have time to set up on defense.

Finally, the Devils have to look to be a force on the boards.

“I did think we could have done a little bit better job on the boards and defensively…we’ve got to step back and look at that,” Turner Thorne said.

Key rebounders like Janae Fulcher, Haley Videckis, and Burke, will need to be strong underneath the basket to help the Devils rise above the Bruins this time around.

Arizona State takes on UCLA at 6 p.m. on Friday and the Trojans at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

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