Sun Devils set for first Pac-12 road trip to Oregon schools

(Photo via Marina Williams/WCSN)

ASU women’s basketball will travel north this weekend to face the Oregon Ducks (9-7, 0-3 Pac-12) on Friday and the Oregon State Beavers (12-2, 1-2 Pac-12) on Sunday. With ASU transferring to the Big 12, Oregon moving to the Big Ten, and Oregon State remaining in the Pac-12 in 2024, this weekend’s matchups will be ASU’s final Pac-12 contests against the Oregon schools.

In their last six games, the Sun Devils are 1-5, with three of those losses coming against Pac-12 teams. In their most recent game – an 81-68 loss against No. 5 Colorado – the lone bright spot was sophomore guard Jalyn Brown, who scored a career-high 35 points, setting a season-high for ASU and recording the most points by a Sun Devil since 2000.

ASU and Oregon are both 0-3 in conference play and are two of the three remaining Pac-12 teams without a conference win. The Sun Devils and Ducks, who are currently ranked 11th and 12th in the Pac-12, will play each other in the opening game of the weekend.

Oregon’s Achilles heel this season has undoubtedly been its offense; through 16 games, the Ducks sit dead last in the Pac-12 in points per game, field goals made, field goals attempted, and 3-point percentage. Oregon only has three players averaging more than five points per game this season, and only two of those three have shot over 37% from the field to start the season.

While Oregon has been one of, if not the worst offensive team in the Pac-12, ASU has been one of, if not the worst defensive team in the Pac-12. The Sun Devils have given up 66.7 points per game, the second-worst opponent field goal percentage, and the most opponent rebounds, figures that have dramatically decreased since a blowout loss to Texas on Nov. 23.

The Ducks enter Friday night’s contest having lost three straight by a combined score differential of 61 points. If ASU wants to pick up its first conference win and advance in the Pac-12 standings, it begins Friday against the struggling Ducks.

Last season, the Sun Devils didn’t get their first Pac-12 victory until Feb. 23, just two games before the regular season concluded. That was ASU’s last meeting with Oregon State, a 75-73 triumph that rescued the Sun Devils from going winless in the Pac-12.

Oregon State appears to be a significantly improved team from last season. Heading into the weekend, the Beavers sit at 12-2, winning just one less game than they did all of last season, which they finished 13-18. For the last several weeks, they’ve even been receiving votes for the AP Top 25 Poll.

Oregon State’s past three games, like Oregon’s, have been its first three Pac-12 contests, with the Beavers finishing 1-2. These games included a 21-point win over Oregon, a two-point defeat to No. 9 USC, and an 11-point loss to No. 2 UCLA. Despite the losses, Oregon State impressed many, battling for a full 40 minutes against two of the highest-ranked teams in the country.

Oregon State may not be a ranked team, but statistically, the Beavers have held their own against some of the conference’s best teams. Oregon State averages 75.3 points per game, behind only USC, and makes 8.1 three-pointers per game, more than UCLA, Colorado and USC, while allowing 56.6 points per game and 33.5% from the field, both of which are better than any ranked squad in the Pac-12.

The key contributor to Oregon State’s year-to-year development has been sophomore forward Raegan Beers. As a freshman, Beers averaged 13.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 56.0% shooting. This season, she’s increased those numbers to 18.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 67.5% shooting. Her significant sophomore leap has resulted in a turnaround for the Beavers thus far.

The key to a Sun Devil victory over Oregon State is to keep Beers quiet and off the boards. In Oregon State’s loss to UCLA, Beers only had five rebounds and turned the ball over four times. In the Beavers’ loss to USC, Beers had just nine points, finishing in single digits for just the second time this season and the first in a game where she played more than 20 minutes.

Now that non-conference play has ended, and ASU is facing the demanding Pac-12 powerhouses, every game will be a struggle. Whether it’s stopping an emerging Oregon State squad or defeating an underperforming Oregon team, ASU will need to gain momentum and begin making changes in order to move up the Pac-12 rankings in 2024.