Redshirt junior guard Eliza Normen pulls down a rebound against Ohio University in the first round of the NCAA women's tournament on Saturday, March 21, 2015, at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils defeated the Bobcats 74-55. (Ben Moffat/The State Press)No. 3-seed ASU (28-5, 15-3 Pac-12) needed a dominant performance in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and they got one, beating No. 14-seed Ohio 74-55 at Well's Fargo Arena on Saturday.
In the first five minutes of the first round of the NCAA Tournament, No. 3-seed ASU scored six points. The Sun Devils trailed No. 14-seed Ohio by two.
The next five minutes featured an 18-4 ASU run that set the tone for the remainder of the match.
It started the way so many ASU runs do: Senior guard Promise Amukamara stole an inbounds pass. She made the layup to tie the game.
After Ohio missed the ensuing basket, Amukamara immediately found redshirt junior guard Katie Hempen in transition for a corner 3. ASU took the lead.
Junior guard Elisha Davis increased the lead on the next possession, getting a steal and making the layup. In a 54-second span, ASU had gone on a 7-0 run.
ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said the spurt was a result of ASU’s defense.
“When our defense is turning people over and we’re getting easy buckets in transition, that’s when we’re at our best,” she said.
Ohio coach Bob Boldon gave credit to that aspect of ASU’s game.
“They took us out of everything we wanted to do,” he said. “That really contributed to us getting frustrated on the offensive side.”
The rest of the half continued in the same manner. Hempen knocked down two more 3's and junior guard Arnecia Hawkins added a pair herself. The two led ASU in scoring in the half, combining for 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
Free throw shooting also provided a boost. The team got to the line 17 times.
“We wanted to take some perimeter shots and draw them out and go right inside,” Turner Thorne said. “We didn’t want to settle.”
ASU went into the half with a 41-25 lead.
Hempen started the second half the same way she left off: she nailed another 3.
She was on fire, hitting five of her first seven before missing a pair. Her final one was deep – NBA range over a defender.
She broke ASU’s record for 3-pointers in an NCAA tournament game and broke her personal record for points in a single game.
“I think she has a chance to be our all-time best (3-point shooter),” Turner Thorne said.
Hempen finished with 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting with 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
Ohio went on a 7-0 run before ASU recovered. The Sun Devils responded strong, going on a 16-0 run in about five and a half minutes.
A large part of their game was through guard penetration. As the ball handler went to the hoop, ASU forced help defense from the interior defender. This gave her enough room to craft a bounce pass in between defenders to an open post player.
“The guards were just doing a really good job of penetrating,” sophomore forward Sophie Brunner said. “My player had to over help on them, which left me wide open on the block.”
Brunner finished with 14 points and was 5-of-8 from the field.
The Sun Devils went on a 20-3 run and increasing their lead to 69-40 before going deathly silent.
Ohio went on a 13-0 run, and held ASU to just five points in the final nine and a half minutes.
This was in part due to ASU’s lack of effort. Once they went ahead by 29, they took their foot off the gas and cruised to the end.
It was also in part due to a trio of Ohio guards.
Sophomore guard Quiera Lampkins was aggressive in every sense of the word. She penetrated hard, absorbed contact well and even posted up when a smaller defender such Davis would be guarding her. She finished with 17 points.
The team’s unique lineup featured four guards in the starting lineup, with heights ranging from 5'5" to 5'10". Lampkins took on a non-shooting role, choosing to drive more often than put up a jumper.
In the regular season, junior guard Kiyana Black averaged 16.1 points. Today, she finished with 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting.
When Black’s shot wasn’t falling, redshirt junior guard Kat Yelle took on a large ball-handling role. She dribbled well, switching hands often and going behind the back. She changes direction on a dime and finished with eight points on 4-6 shooting.
“They pretty much just go one-on-one,” Hempen said. “I think the biggest challenge was just having our five-player be our first help.”
ASU’s 29-point lead proved impossible to overcome, and the Sun Devils won 74-55. ASU advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and will play UALR on Monday at 6 p.m. Arizona time.
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