(Photo credit: Maya Diaz/WCSN)
TEMPE — As Oregon State senior guard Tiara Bolden buried the Beavers’ second 3-pointer of the first quarter, Arizona State women’s basketball quickly found itself down four with 3:27 remaining in the first period. After putting together its best team performance of the season a day prior in a win vs SMU, ASU faced an early deficit to a hot-shooting OSU team and a test of the defense-first identity that head coach Natasha Adair has challenged her team to fulfill.
The Sun Devils (3-2) responded by not conceding a 3-point field goal until 2:24 left in the fourth quarter en route to a dominant 79-60 win over the Beavers (1-3) in their second game of the Briann January Classic.
“We talked about it,” Adair said after ASU picked up its second consecutive home win Sunday afternoon. “We wanted to make sure we arrived on the catch and we know that they can shoot, but this was more about honing our defense in and not letting them get hot.”
Perimeter defense was one of the many facets in which the Sun Devils severely outmatched the Beavers. ASU held OSU to 13% from beyond the arc, 32% from the field and turned the Beavers over 19 times. Amongst those 19 turnovers forced, three were charges drawn by ASU, a perfect indicator of the grit that Adair’s team showed all afternoon. The Sun Devils also commanded the interior against the Beavers – the tallest team they have faced this season – blocking eight shots and winning the points in the paint battle 38-28.
Junior forward Kennedy Basham led the way defensively for ASU, finishing the game with six rejections to pair with her 10 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes of action. One play in particular summarized what was nothing short of a dominant performance for the transfer from Oregon.
In the third quarter, with the Sun Devils on an 11-0 run, Basham fought through a screen down low meant to seal her off from the player she was guarding and got a full palm on an OSU layup attempt. The ball spiked off the court before being controlled again by a Beaver player, who went up for a layup on the opposite side of the lane. Basham quickly recovered, lunging from one low block to the other to spike the attempted shot out towards the perimeter.
“Defensively, it gets me going. Shots weren’t falling on the offensive end but defensively just blocking shots,” Basham said.
Basham already has 16 blocks to begin the 2024-25 season. The 6-foot-7 forward also relished her opportunity to match up with an OSU team that is the tallest that ASU has faced yet this year.
“It’s exciting to play other girls that are my size, so it’s better competition to go out there and play against them,” Basham said.
Offensively, Tyi Skinner, as she has done all year, did most of the scoring for the Sun Devils. The graduate guard continued her hot start to the season with 21 points on just 11 shots. She was supported by graduate guard Jazion Jackson, who scored 10 points and shot 4-for-6 from the field, including 1-for-1 from downtown. Along with Basham’s 10 points and another 12 points from junior guard Jalyn Brown – who battled foul trouble for most of the contest – ASU had four players in double-digits for the second time this year.
“That’s the beauty,” said Adair “It’s hard to scout our team because everyone can score, everyone is a threat. I think the more that we continue to play, the more they will get confidence.”
