In their first day of action in the ASU Classic, the Arizona State Sun Devils picked up the victory over the Boston University Terriers 71-42.
The Devils have struggled as of late, losing two of their last three to Marquette and Maryland. They got back on track last Saturday with a 54-41 win vs. St. John’s, but the play from their seniors had been lacking.
Early on, the Sun Devils worked the ball down low to center Quinn Dornstauder and forward Sophie Brunner. Coach Charli Turner Thorne said she said she wanted the team to “build on our inside game we built against St. John’s.”
Midway through the second, Brunner had 10 points and a steal, while Dornstauder had 4 points and 3 rebounds. Both were being extremely physical in the paint and created a mismatch on the Terrier defenders.
The play of the frontcourt, allowed for the young and inexperienced backcourt to flourish. Instead of thinking as scorers, Sabrina Haines, Kiara Russell, and Robbi Ryan were thinking as playmakers. They moved without the ball and kept getting open looks because of it. The backcourt had right around their point average, but with less shots.
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At half, the Sun Devils had a 36-19, lead, behind a combined 18 points from Brunner and Dornstauder. ASU’s defense had 6 steals and 3 blocks, but was helped out from Boston University’s shaky offense. Halfway through they were shooting 36.4 percent from the field with 10 turnovers. They couldn’t get anything going offensively and ASU took advantage of that.
On defense, the Terriers are one of the few teams in college basketball who run a 2-3 zone. ASU had some trouble with it at times, but when they started to pound the ball down low, they were most effective. Either the BU defender would stay with the guard and Brunner or Dornstauder had an easy look, or the defender would collapse and double team down low, leaving a wide-open guard behind the arc.
By the fourth quarter, the Devils had a commanding 51-30 lead, and started to put their second string in, giving a good chunk of playing time to the young guards. This also allows the starters and key role players to get some rest as they will most likely play No. 19 Florida in their final game of the ASU Classic. It would be the Devils second test against a ranked opponent this season, they didn’t fare too well in their first game (83-42 loss vs. #6 Maryland).
The Sun Devils finished out the game with a dominating 71-42 win. They were able to get their frontcourt much more involved, and because of that, the backcourt had open looks. All around they became a more efficient team and took higher percentage shots.
“It just makes everything so much easier, when you have such dominant presences in the paint,” Haines said.
ASU shot 58.3 percent from the field, as opposed to 28.3 percent vs. Maryland and 48.8 percent against St John’s. ASU was able to create a more efficient offense by getting the ball to their seniors down low. The get easy baskets that led them to any easy win.
They did struggle however with hitting the three, shooting a disappointing 15.4 percent. Some of those shots were due to the shot clock running down, and the Devils had to chuck up a three, as Turner Thorne said, “we were holding the ball.”
ASU will look to strengthen their all around offensive execution Sunday against the winner of No.19 Florida and Long Beach State. They need to limit the turnovers (18 against Boston University) and start hitting more threes in order to make their way back into the rankings.
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