Redshirt senior Janae Fulcher goes up strong for a shot in the block against Washington on Feb. 3. Fulcher has been the only consistent scorer averaging 11.6 points per game. (Photo by Sam Rosenbaum)The ASU women’s basketball team has struggled offensively, and it’s clear it is the main reason for its recent failure.
Last weekend in the Sun Devils’ (11-11, 3-7 Pac-12) two losses, they shot 26 percent, their second-worst percentage all season, against Washington State and 36 percent vs. Washington. They have dropped its last five of six games.
“Our offensive efficiency just isn’t where it needs to be to win games in the Pac-12 conference this year," coach Charli Turner Thorne. "I know we have kids that can put the ball in the basket. I challenged them in the locker room; that’s where we have to grow. We have to be able to hit shots. I feel like our defense is good enough, especially when we’re rebounding how we did, to keep us in every game, but our offense isn’t.”
In ASU’s upset win over USC, the Sun Devils shot 45 percent. In all of its past five conference losses, it has shot 36 percent or lower.
ASU is currently second to last in the conference in points per game, averaging 60.3.
Redshirt senior Janae Fulcher is the lone Sun Devil in the conference’s top 30 in scoring per game with 11.6.
She finished with 21 points on Sunday after only scoring five against Washington State.
Losing Blackwell
The departure of sophomore Jada Blackwell from the basketball program has proven to be a noticeable blow for ASU.
It is still unknown why Blackwell is no longer with the Sun Devil squad.
The last game she played was on Jan. 20.
Blackwell was a consistent scorer off the bench for the Sun Devils as well as a post presence.
She holds the team’s highest scoring output of the season when she poured in 29 points on the Huskies on Jan. 4.
Blackwell averaged 7.1 points in 18 games played.
Bouncing back on the boards
Although ASU is one of the smallest teams in the Pac-12, it showed its ability to crash the boards with the best rebounding squads on Sunday.
It grabbed a season-high 55 rebounds vs. the Huskies. ASU's five guards who played throughout the game accounted for 26 rebounds.
“(Sophomore guard) Promise (Amukamara) and the guards did a great job on the boards and that was our focus coming into the game," Fulcher said. "We definitely focused on boxing out and pursuing.”
Junior transfer Nisha Barrett, who has seen increased playing time as off late because of the loss of Blackwell, has averaged 5.5 rebounds this past weekend.
ASU is fourth in the Pac-12 in rebounds per game.
Injury Update
Turner Thorne said she’d be surprised if both starting point guard Adrianne Thomas and freshman forward reserve Haley Videckis weren’t back for this weekend’s set of games.
After being hit during Friday’s game, Thomas was diagnosed with a concussion, Turner Thorne said.Videckis tweaked her ankle during practice last Saturday.
Reach the reporter at gdemano@asu.edu
