ASU WBB: No. 18 ASU Suffers First Loss of the Season to Marquette
Coming into their third game of the season, #18 ASU was 2-0 with an average margin of victory of 40.5 points. Their game against Marquette was supposed to be more of the same for the Sun Devils, but it was anything but.
Early in the first quarter ASU trailed for the first time all season. The Golden Eagles outshot ASU in the first by hitting a staggering 75 percent of their field goals, but ASU cut the deficit to 21-18 at the end of the first. ASU was missing easy shots. They tried to get it into the post to the experienced front court, but the shots weren’t going in for the Sun Devils.
The second quarter was even worse for the Sun Devils, shooting a dismal 27 percent from the field. Both teams had almost identical stats at the end of half with the only big difference being field goal percentage.
These bad shooting nights shouldn’t happen to teams that like to get scoring from their frontcourt in the paint. They took only eight threes in the first half, but put just two in.
One of the key points in the game was the end of the first half; the Sun Devils had stormed back from being down six in the first quarter and had gained the lead off a Robbi Ryan jumper. The Devils then failed to score in the last 4:56 of the half and allowed the Golden Eagles to gain a 33-28 lead. Right when ASU looked as if they were going to start to put the game away, they went completely dry.
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The only positive for the Sun Devils in the first half was freshman guard Robbi Ryan who led the Arizona State in scoring with 11. The next highest Sun Devil was another guard, Sabrina Haines, with 5 points. Ryan was the go-to player for the Sun Devils, leading Arizona State with 19 points.
To start off the third quarter, ASU tried to run their offense through senior center Quinn Dornstauder. Dornstauder had three quick layups and ASU was within two, with four minutes to go in the third.
Dornstauder did not score the rest of the game, and again ASU could not close out the quarter, falling dry the last 3:44 of the third, and only scoring off two Sophie Brunner layups.
ASU trailed by six heading into the fourth, but quickly trimmed that lead to one with a Robbie Ryan three. From there this game turned into a Golden Eagle clinic.
Marquette proceeded to go on a 25-14 run. It could’ve been a lot worse if not for a few garbage-time buckets for ASU to bring the final score to 75-63.
The Golden Eagles seemed to answer every basket by ASU, while adding points on every untimely foul and turnover from the devils.
Marquette was led by sophomore guard Natisha Hiedeman, who topped all players with 23 points. She made five threes in the game and had eight fourth quarter points. Hiedeman hit timely shots, either with a corner three, or a fast break layup off an ASU turnover.
The Sun Devils led the game in rebounds and steals, had fewer turnovers, attempted 13 more shots, three more free throws, and still lost by 12. Simply, ASU couldn’t hit any shots when they needed them, while Marquette had probably the best shooting game their going to have all year.
The difference in the game was Marquette’s ability to shoot lights out. They led ASU in every shooting percentage category, including by 18.6 percent from the field and from three, while also leading by 27.7 percent from the line.
Besides the shooting woes, ASU got disappointing play from their seniors. Sophie Brunner had 13 points, but only 4 rebounds. She was unable to stop Marquette from getting offensive boards and easy layups.
Quinn Dornstauder had 10 points and 8 rebounds, but missed way too many easy layups and two key free throws late.
Kelsey Moos finished with zero points, she only put up three shots, all from three. Moos couldn’t make any kind of impact on Saturday.
ASU looks to rebound from this disappointing loss, when they face #6 Maryland on Friday. Arizona State will travel to Las Vegas to play in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout. Coach Charli Turner Thorne will try getting her team back on track as they play one of the best teams in the country.
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