Freshman forward Haley Videckis searches for an open teammate during the Sun Devils’ 65-59 loss to Dayton on Dec. 2. (Photo by Kyle Newman)The ASU women’s basketball team is taking a two game road trip to the East Coast this weekend.
The Sun Devils (3-4) are coming off a heartbreaking loss to No. 19 Dayton, in which ASU saw a lead it held for most of the game slip away during the last 50 seconds.
This weekend, the Sun Devils journey to Rhode Island and Massachusetts. On Friday, ASU will play the Providence Friars, followed by a match-up on Sunday with Boston College.
The Friars (2-6) have struggled to make easy baskets so far this season, but they find a way to light up the scoreboard. In Providence’s two wins, the Friars are averaging 81 points a game.
The strengths of Providence are very similar to the Sun Devils’ style of play.
“I think Providence is very athletic, great transition team (and) great rebounding team,” coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “They’re aggressive and going to mix up its defenses a bit.”
The Friars are coming off two blowout losses to Hartford and Harvard.
Boston College (5-3), on the other hand, is coming off an impressive win over Rutgers.
The Eagles have shot the ball well, sinking over 45 percent of their shots in each of their last three games. Turner Thorne compared Boston College’s shooting ability hand-in-hand with Dayton’s, but with less experience.
Turner Thorne knows that if her team plays like they are capable of, it’s the Sun Devils’ match to lose.
“It’s about us though,” Turner Thorne said. “We just have to sustain.”
The Sun Devils absorbed a tough loss against one of the best teams in the nation last Sunday, but they have responded well at practice.
“We met as a team and talked about how much we want to this — we want to make it to the tournament,” freshmen forward Haley Videckis said. “We work so hard for it, and I don’t think there’s anything controllable that we’re going to let get in the way.”
During the Dayton game, ASU had stints of excellence with its offensive execution, defensive pressure and rebounding.
These next two games will come down to simply how well the Sun Devils can play.
“It’s not going to have to do much with the opponent,” redshirt senior Janae Fulcher said. “It’s going to be about handling ourselves, and handling the basketball, and turnovers and possessions.”
Reach the reporter at gdemano@asu.edu
