Third-seeded ASU women’s basketball will go into the Sweet 16 as underdogs against second-seeded Florida State on Friday.
ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said that this might not be a bad thing; she referenced fewer distractions and being able to focus better. She also mentioned national attention.
“I think it’s fun to be the underdog,” she said. “Who do we all root for?”
The top priority for the Devils will be rebounding over the Seminoles. Senior guard Promise Amukamara said Florida State hadn’t been outrebounded in the entire year.
Four players average more than 4.5 rebounds per game.Junior center Adut Bulgak leads the way with 9.7 per contest.
Sophomore forward Sophie Brunner said the key to beating them on the boards will be physical play and getting in position first.
“As a post player you have to hit first and can’t be hit first, otherwise it’s gong to be game over,” she said.
Along with leading the team in rebounding, Bulgak averages a team-high 12.3 points per game. Brunner said she can play on the perimeter, so ASU’s power forward position will be guarding her as much as the center.
Brunner said ASU has to guard her tight with team defense and work on the help side. They need to play her tight off-the-ball too — “no free touches,” she said.
It’s not only the taller players who rebound and make an impact. Sophomore guard Leticia Romerobecame eligible in the middle of the season after transferring from Kansas State and has made an immediate impact. In 26.7 minutes per game, she’s averaging 10.5 points, 5.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds.
Junior guard Elisha Davis will patrol her. Davis said Romero dribbles right more often than left and does a good job altering her dribble.
“I have to stay head to the ball,” she said. “She has a very good hesitation move as well as changing speed, so my thing is just being able to stop her in transition.”
Florida State has depth, and goes further than Romero and Bulgak. Five players average double-digit points per game; both Turner Thorne and Florida State coach Sue Semrau said the balance of the teams’ offenses were similar.
“(The Seminoles) have five people in double figures; they average 75 points a game; they are a great offensive rebounding team,” Turner Thorne said at Thursday’s press conference in Greensboro, North Carolina.
She said whichever team limited the opponent in transition and on the offensive boards would have the advantage.
The defenses are also similar. Semrau said both play man-to-man hard.
“It’s going to be hard to score on both sides of the ball,” she said at the press conference in Greensboro, North Carolina.
She also said that her team’s man-to-man defense allows them to recognize where the ball is bouncing off the rim and grab the rebound.
The rebounding and defense has a positive correlation; when one is strong, the other likely mirrors it. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Florida State grabbed 46 rebounds. The team allowed 47 points.
Against Clemson in February, the Seminoles snagged 48 boards and allowed just 38 points.
“I don’t know that we have to outrebound them but we have to hang around,” Turner Thorne said. “We can’t be outrebounded by 13 and expect to win. We need to have probably our best rebounding effort of the year.”
ASU will face off against No. 2-seed Florida State in the Sweet 16 Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina at 6:30 p.m. Arizona time. The game will be aired on ESPN2.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsman on Twitter.
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