(Photo credit: Aishling Cavanaugh/WCSN)
TEMPE — As a cluster of fans gathered near the Arizona State women’s basketball bench holding signs and other paraphernalia to celebrate her homecoming, Arizona State junior forward Kennedy Basham rang the victory bell Monday night.
The 6-foot-7 Basham earned the honor to lead the celebration following an impactful first game as a Sun Devil, marking her return to the Valley after two years at Oregon.
“6’7” is 6’7”,” Arizona State head coach Natasha Adair said after the game. “She had four blocks, but she altered so many other shots. That’s just a hard guard for people, they turn around and she’s standing there.”
During the Phoenix native’s Sun Devil debut, Arizona State defeated the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 74-66. Basham impacted the game on both ends of the court, showcasing the talent that Adair and her staff recruited the forward to Tempe for.
As a member of the Ducks last year, the former four-star recruit led Oregon in blocks with 48 in 31 appearances. In that span, she averaged 4.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game.
On Monday, Basham easily cleared her averages from last season, tallying eight points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks in 26 minutes on the floor against the Gamecocks. She made her presence felt primarily on defense under the basket, where she collected all her blocks and nine of her boards.
As Adair said after the game, Basham’s size and footwork helped her contest far more than the four shots she was credited with blocking. This was crucial for an Arizona State defense that otherwise struggled to defend the paint. The Sun Devils allowed 26 points on the inside and also committed a considerable portion of their 27 personal fouls under the basket, which gave Jacksonville State 29 attempts from the free-throw line.
In addition to tough defense, Basham played efficient offense at the rim, going 4-for-6 from the field. While her eight points reflect on the stat sheet, Basham’s offensive impact on Monday can’t be fully expressed just by looking at the box score.
The junior forward’s presence in the paint helped create spacing for the Sun Devils. Due to the Gamecocks height disadvantage, they had to focus on keeping the ball away from Basham or risk allowing the Devils to feed the ball inside. This created opportunities for Arizona State to shoot on the perimeter, and graduate guard Tyi Skinner capitalized, shooting five-of-six from deep.
Furthermore, Skinner highlighted Basham’s ability to create offense for ASU by setting screens to create space for her teammates and set certain on-court actions in motion.
“She sets great screens for us, and she opens us up a lot,” Skinner said. “That’s not a stat you see on the stat sheet but that opens me up, that opens [junior guard Jalyn Brown] up, that opens a lot of us up.”
Adair also mentioned that Basham passed the ball well in Monday’s contest, finding open teammates on good looks. Solid passing, combined with the value she creates through spacing, makes Basham an important part of the Sun Devils’ offense.
Overall, Basham flashed two-way potential in her Arizona State debut. Her abilities on both ends of the floor have excited Adair and the coaching staff, creating more reason for optimism among this new-look Sun Devil roster.
“I think each game that she continues to play, she’s going to get more confident and get more dominant and people are going to have to gameplan against that,” Adair said.
