ASU senior Promise Amukamara goes deep into the Colorado defense for the layup and two points during the last game of regular season play. The Sun Devils won their 26th game on March 1, 2015, at the Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)The Amukamaras had a passing of the torch near the end of No. 10 ASU’s 59-46 victory over Colorado in Tempe on Sunday.
With 2:30 minutes remaining in the regular season, senior guard Promise Amukamara was subbed out of the game in place of her sister, junior guard Peace Amukamara.
It was senior night at Wells Fargo Arena and ASU honored graduating guards Promise Amukamara and Isidora Purkovic with a short post-game ceremony.
“Izzy’s one of the smartest girls on our team when it comes to basketball and when it comes to school,” said redshirt junior guard Katie Hempen. “Prom’s the hardest worker.”
Amukamara was sentimental after the game.
“It’s overwhelming emotions coming into this game,” she said. “I’m going miss my team and my coaching staff but I think today my team really honored this day and played their hearts out.”
She was quiet after. During the game, though, she was downright vicious.
Amukamara played as aggressively as ever, slashing to the rim, getting out in transition and finishing hard with both hands.
She got hot when ASU needed her and she finished with 13 points on 50 percent shooting from the field.
“I knew if I could hesitate and change my speed I could get to the rim easily,” Amukamara said.
ASU needed her. They led by just one point after the first half and were ineffective on their few attempts down low.
Sophomore forward Sophie Brunner had only one shot in the first half and missed it. ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said they were settling for long shots and weren’t being patient with the shot clock.
“I think they were so pumped to play well for the seniors that they were playing too individually on offense,” she said. “We didn’t get paint touches… most of the first half we just were very impatient.”
Turner Thorne added that it seemed like players wanted to score instead of wanted to run plays.
One of the players who clearly wanted to score was freshman center Ayanna Edwards.
She has been receiving more minutes with Kelsey Moos sidelined (now limited) due to an elbow injury, and her confidence has skyrocketed. Posting up, Edwards called for the ball aggressively; this is different than in her few minutes earlier in the year, when she would post for the sake of running the play.
On Sunday, she posted for the sake of getting the ball in the net.
ASU junior Sun Devil Elisha Davis stretches for another Sun Devil basket in the second half of Sunday's game. The Sun Devils won their 26th game on March 1, 2015, at the Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)ASU was on a scoring drought that lasted longer than four minutes when she ran a pick-and-roll with junior guard Elisha Davis. Edward’s hulking frame provided her an opportunity to get an open layup. ASU took a 13-11 lead.
On the next play, Edwards got the ball down low again. In a sea of defenders, she went under the hoop. Surrounded, a long arm from a 6-foot-4 frame appeared above the crowd. She softly laid the ball into the hoop.
For the third consecutive play, Edwards got the ball low. She missed the left-handed layup after a nice post move, but her confidence is soaring and could help ASU in the Pac-12 tournament next week.
Kelsey Moos played 21 minutes Sunday and looked healthy, but Turner Thorne said Edwards still might see time when Moos is back up to normal minutes.
“They can’t move her three feet off the block,” Turner Thorne said. “That’s the great thing about (Edwards). She wants the ball and you can’t move her.”
With physical play and lots of missed shots, ASU went into the half nursing a slim 22-21 lead. Colorado senior guard Lexy Kresl came alive and made a pair of three-pointers from NBA-range.
It was the sharpshooting Hempen that stole the show, though. Amukamara and Moos forced a turnover in the backcourt off heavy press, and Hempen got wide open at the arc. She made her first attempt of the game.
Hempen said teams have been guarding her tighter lately and she’s learning to be patient. She was waiting for an open shot in the first half instead of forcing one.
“Once Prom got that steal and she saw me it was kind of just like a sigh of relief,” she said. “It was the first time that I got an open shot a couple games.”
ASU went up by 11, but Colorado wouldn’t go away. With a six point lead, Hempen took the ball, dribbled at 6-foot-2 junior forward Jamee Swan, then stepped back to hit a three in her defender’s face.
One play later, Hempen hit another three, breaking ASU’s record set by Briann January in 2008-09 for most three-pointers in a single season. While she seemed happy to take that record, she said she was happier about the team’s play.
“A record is just a number,” she said. “As long as our team’s playing well and doing what we’re supposed to, then that’s all that matters.”
With relentless defense and eight steals from Brunner, ASU walked away with a 59-46 victory and tied the record for second-most wins in school history.
Peace dribbled out the clock for the majority of the final possession. While Promise might return to Wells Fargo Arena if ASU hosts an NCAA tournament game, the Amukamara torch has been passed. There will be one more year of the Nigerian family at ASU.
Reach the reporter atlogan.newman@asu.eduor follow@Logan_Newsmanon Twitter.
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