Sun Devils to embark on final Pac-12 road trip

(Photo via Marina Williams/WCSN)

For its final Pac-12 Conference road trip, ASU women’s basketball is heading back to California to face California and No. 3 Stanford. The Sun Devils head to the Bay Area after splitting last weekend’s games against Washington and Washington State. A win in just one of their next two games would help the Sun Devils stay out of last place and possibly push them into 10th in the Pac-12 standings.

The joy from last Friday’s thrilling double-overtime win over the Huskies quickly turned to somber, as ASU dropped Sunday’s game to Washington State in blowout fashion. Now, ASU (11-15, 3-11 Pac-12) looks ahead to another weekend where it will face a team it has already bested once and a national powerhouse.

The Sun Devils and Golden Bears (15-11, 5-9 Pac-12) faced off back on Jan. 28 in a tight game. In a stunning defensive effort, ASU held California to just two points in the game’s final 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

The outing against California was also one of ASU’s best team offensive outputs. Five Sun Devils scored in double-figures, and as a whole, they shot 54.9% from the field and a whopping 80% from 3-point range.

Since losing to ASU, California has gone 2-3 with losses to ranked USC, UCLA and Stanford and wins over Washington and Washington State. The most recent of these results is a Feb. 16 84-49 loss at Maples Pavilion to the Cardinal.

The Golden Bears’ leading scorer, graduate guard Ioanna Krimili averages 15.1 points per game. Junior forward Marta Suárez and senior guard Leilani McIntosh join Krimili as the other two players on California’s roster averaging double-digit points. Suárez also leads the team in rebounding with 6.5 on average.

California is one of the worst teams in the Pac-12 in terms of allowed shooting percentages. Its opponents are shooting a league-worst 34.5% from three and a staggering 42.2% from the field, better than only ASU’s allowed field goal percentage of 45.5%.

There are few team stats in which the Sun Devils outmatch the Golden Bears, but one is turnovers. ASU’s 13.1 turnovers per game are fourth in the conference, while California’s 15.4 are dead last. The Sun Devils force 15.3 turnovers on average and score 15.2 points off them. Capitalizing on this advantage could be the key to ASU walking away from Haas Pavilion with a win on Friday.

Sunday, ASU will head across the Bay to play No. 3 Stanford (23-3, 12-2 Pac-12) at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal are one of the nation’s premier teams, earning a No. 1 seed in ESPN’s latest NCAA Tournament top 16 seed reveal.

The last matchup between the Sun Devils and Cardinal was a lopsided affair that saw Stanford pick up a 30-point road win at Desert Financial Arena.

The Cardinal are led by the towering twosome of senior forward Cameron Brink and junior forward Kiki Iriafen. Both players are averaging double-doubles, with Iriafen taking the lead in points and Brink doing so in rebounding. The two are third and fourth in the Pac-12 with 18.5 and 17.8 points per game, respectively.

As a whole, Stanford Paces the Pac-12 in rebounding and points allowed on the defensive end. The Cardinal’s 14.3 rebounding margin is the second widest in the country.

Last time these two teams matched up, ASU shot horribly from all parts of the court, going 28.8% from the field, 25% from 3-point and 53.3% from the free throw line. Stanford also outrebounded the Sun Devils 49-33 and scored 44 points in the paint to ASU’s 20.

For ASU to have a chance, sophomore forwards Journey Thompson and Kadidia Toure will have to step up and put pressure on Brink and Iriafen. Additionally, perimeter players like sophomore guards Jalyn Brown and Trayanna Crisp will need to rise to the occasion and take advantage of weaker matchups among Stanford’s guards.

Last time they played the Cardinal, ASU stayed right behind them through the first quarter and part of the second, however, the Sun Devils eventually settled into a slump and only posted six points in the second frame, going into halftime down 13. Nonetheless, the Sun Devils showed they can keep up for at least 10 minutes. They’ll need to put in that same effort for all 40.

With Pac-12 play winding down, ASU will need to take advantage of every opportunity it gets to add another win to its total. While the Cardinal pose a daunting challenge, Friday’s game against California is definitively winnable, and ASU certainly needs the win.