(Photo via Marina Williams/WCSN)
TEMPE — ASU women’s basketball suffered its third-straight loss Sunday after falling to No. 5 Colorado
Despite a career-high 35 points from sophomore guard Jalyn Brown, the Buffaloes (13-1, 3-0 Pac-12) were just too much for the Sun Devils (8-7, 0-3 Pac-12) to handle.
The Buffaloes came into Sunday’s game on a seven-game win streak and continued the momentum into the first quarter of this game.
Colorado started the game on a quick 9-0 run, which ASU met with an 11-2 run of its own. Brown led the way early and continued to lead the Sun Devils’ offense throughout the game.
Her 35 points were the most for a Sun Devil since 2001. She also had five rebounds and four assists to go along with the record night.
“I feel like I have worked for it,” Brown said. “Every day, I am training. … Every day, we are preparing. … My coaches are preparing me for those positions, so just being ready to do what I’m told to do and to help the team in any way.”
The Sun Devils’ positive offensive spurt came to a halt in the second quarter as they shot just 1-for-12 from the field and couldn’t seem to get anything going. The Buffaloes’ elite guard play from senior guard Frida Formann and graduate guard Jaylyn Sherrod and an 18-point half from junior center Aaronette Vonleh propelled them to a 25-point lead after the first 20 minutes.
In the third quarter, ASU fought to chip into the huge lead that Colorado built and got some momentum going. The Sun Devils showed more cohesiveness on both ends, stringing some stops together and getting buckets around the rim and at the free-throw line.
Even though ASU outscored Colorado 24-21 in the third quarter, the Sun Devils still found themselves in quite the deficit heading into the fourth, but they caught a break. Colorado went scoreless through the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, giving the Sun Devils the opportunity to chip away at the Buffaloes lead.
With two minutes left in the game, Brown hit a jumper to make it a 10-point game, but it was too late, and Colorado was able to weather ASU’s late-game push.
Following the loss, ASU will take its first Pac-12 Conference road trip of the season to take on Oregon and Oregon State.
“I challenged our team at halftime just to fight,” head coach Natasha Adair said. “And they responded. … I’m just really proud of this group, and how we are building. … The chemistry we are building and their growth from day to day and from game to game … it’s not the outcome that we wanted because every game that we play we want to win, but understand, as a coach, that there is a process. … We are all so used to instant or by a click of a button but it doesn’t work that way, but I am proud of this group.”
