ASU WBB: Unable to Break Losing Streak Against Oregon State
After not gaining a lead for the duration of the game, Arizona State fell at home to No. 11 Oregon State 54-45.
ASU put up a good fight for the majority of the game, but couldn’t quite overcome the fatigue felt by the young team. Oregon State has a finely tuned squad that was able to tire out the Devils quickly in the first half.
The Beavers’ center Marie Gulich scored 18 points against the Sun Devils, as well as rack up 10 rebounds contributing to the 39 total for the team.
Working in unison with Gulich was guard Sydney Wiese who drained four of six three-pointers, and left the Devils struggling trying to defend both the perimeter and inside the paint. She was able to tire out the young guards on defense and leave them stumbling after quick passes.
“A team that of that caliber you can’t afford to give up shots like that,” Sophie Brunner said on Oregon State’s performance.
The Sun Devils were only able to sink roughly 34 percent of their field goals. Brunner was shut down as the game neared the end.
Quinn Dornstauder finished with 17 points for the team and six rebounds, despite being heavily guarded in the paint.
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Young guards Robbi Ryan and Reili Richardson were able to make their presence slightly more known this game, and coach Charlie Turner-Thorne praised Richardson for once again making an impact in games.
In reference to the team’s performance as a whole coach Charlie Turner-Thorne said, ““I liked how hard we played,” and that the team put in a lot of effort and it showed, but the ball just wasn’t falling their way tonight.
The match-up became very physical in the second half. OSU manged to rack up 12 fouls many of which were against the two seniors Brunner and Dornstauder. Having both these girls banged up with a quick turnaround game could prove detrimental to the team’s performance in the next game.
Relying on the seniors can only last so long, the freshmen guards will need to find a way to push through the fatigue and hopefully take some of the pressure off the seniors.
The next game for the Devils will be against Oregon on February 5th with a noon tip-off in the Wells Fargo Arena.
