Sun Devils survive San Francisco in homestand finale

(Photo via Julia Coyne/WCSN)

TEMPE — Monday night, ASU women’s basketball capitalized on a game in which junior guard Morasha Wiggins made her Sun Devil debut to extend its winning streak to start the 2023–2024 campaign.

The Sun Devils (3-0) have dominated defensively to create opportunities for explosive offense to open the season, and they triumphed in their first meeting with San Francisco since 1985, finishing 77-69 over the Dons (1-2).

Throughout the night, the Sun Devils focused on ball denial and tight defense, exploiting their size advantage to overwhelm the San Francisco offense, leaving the Dons without an offensive option. San Francisco was held to 4–for-17 shooting in the first quarter by the Sun Devils, who were determined to shut them down from the start.

“I think we set the tone defensively,” ASU head coach Natasha Adair stated. “We want to dictate, and we want to be disruptive. We work on these things in practice, and so I felt like we did a really good job.”

Despite limiting the Dons to just 28.1% shooting from the field in the first half, the Sun Devils’ six blocks and six steals in the first half alone allowed them to score 11 points off of nine Don turnovers. However, the Dons, who are known for their three-point shooting, answered with seven threes in the half to keep the deficit at 13.

Even though the Sun Devils had a strong first half, their second-half struggles persisted Monday night. San Francisco graduate guard Jasmine Gayles – the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Week – found her shot late, scoring 14 of her 17 points in the second half. Gayles’ performance helped the Dons outscore ASU 42-35 in the final 20 minutes.

“Some of it, I think, is just the more that we play and just the maturity that we’re going to have to approach the second half with, and understanding that you don’t want to ever be comfortable,” Adair said. “Don’t look at the score. It’s 0-0. We don’t want that to bite us down the road. We’ve had a lead, and teams have been able to make a run.”

But despite the lackluster half, she Sun Devils rode their first-half lead that was simply too big for the Dons to overcome. ASU also helped itself thanks to a potent offensive performance and smart defense in the fourth quarter. In the first half, the Dons’ three-point shooting kept them in the game, but in the second half, they only shot 4–16, adding even more weight to Adair’s defensive emphasis.

Sophomore forward Kadidia Toure’s all-around offensive performance—a career-high 22 points and 14 rebounds in her second straight game with a double double—helped the Sun Devils maintain their advantage.

With sophomore guard Jalyn Brown—who entered the game as the Sun Devils’ second-leading scorer with 13.5 points per game—inactive Monday, Toure and the other players were challenged to step up and continue to assume their new, expanded responsibilities for the new-look Devils.

In addition to Toure’s significant contributions, three other Sun Devils—senior guard Jaddan Simmons, sophomore guard Trayanna Crisp and sophomore forward Journey Thompson—scored in double digits with 12 points each.

Wiggins, who had a knee injury that kept her out of action for the whole 2022–2023 season, made her return Monday, playing 23 minutes and scoring eight points. When asked about her comeback, Wiggins’ gave a “modest” answer according to Adair.

“It felt great,” Wiggins said. “It’s been a while. (I’m) just happy to be out there on the floor with my teammates and get a (win).”

The multi-faceted offensive approach combined with Wiggins’ return exemplified the Sun Devils’ depth, a crucial component of this team’s early-season success.

“What I’m learning about our group is our depth, and that it doesn’t matter the player,” Adair said. “They’re ready when their name is called. Just being able to have the versatility and flexibility as a coach and continuing to learn about lineups, offensively and defensively, as we are growing as a team.”

ASU got the win, however, it wasn’t the most convincing victory. Moving forward, the Sun Devils will make their first road trip will begin with a game against Grambling State, as they play four of their next five games away from home. Going forward, the Sun Devils will need to improve their second half play if they want to keep up their recent winning ways in order to stay undefeated in Louisiana and beyond.