Prior to the game against No. 10 Florida State, senior guard Elisha Davis said a victory would be the best Christmas present.
The Seminoles knocked ASU out of the Sweet Sixteen last year.
Merry Christmas, Davis.
The victory wasn’t gift-wrapped, but No. 22 ASU women’s basketball took out FSU 68-56 in a strong defensive game.
“I don’t think Florida State would want to play us if we were in the NCAA tournament,” ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “They probably don’t get guarded like that again this year.”
Sophomore forward Shakayla Thomas is versatile, and described as a “beast” by Turner Thorne. Prior to Monday, she led FSU in scoring with 17 points per game.
She was held to four in the first half and 11 total. Senior guard Elisha Davis said the help defense knew Thomas liked going right then using a spin move.
“We all knew that if she wanted to go right and you went there (to help defend), then she would spin,” Davis said. “We knew we had to not allow her to go right.”
ASU contained its Sweet Sixteen nemesis: junior guard Leticia Romero. She scored 21 last year, but only eight tonight on 3-7 shooting.
Davis said she stopped playing help defense and focused solely on defending Romero. Turner Thorne said Davis had a chip on her shoulder.
“(Romero) doesn’t like pressure that much,” Davis said. “I just stared her down in the eyes and (tried) to deny the best i could.”
FSU also played well defensively, though. It wasn’t allowing ASU to get the ball down low. Very few passes were thrown to the paint, forcing the Sun Devils to swing the ball around the top.
Head coach Charli Turner Thorne said they missed some open passes, and Davis said the team wasn’t patient enough. This led to poor shooting and turnovers.
Lazy passes at the top were prominent, giving FSU fast break opportunities. At halftime, ASU had eight turnovers, resulting in 12 points for the Seminoles.
The Sun Devils made only one of ten attempts. They heated up to begin the second, scoring six of the first eight points.
Senior guard Arnecia Hawkins was able to break through FSU’s front line, completing multiple drives and drawing an and-one to put the game within one.
She scored a game-high and career-high 23 points. Turner Thorne said she’s on “a whole other level” both offensively and defensively.
“(She’s) making great decisions, when she drives, when she takes her pull-up,” Turner Thorne said. “We’re more and more and more realizing that she’s one of our best all-around perimeter scorers.”
FSU led 26-25 at halftime.
ASU came into the third with fixes to its main first-half struggles: three-point shooting and low-post offense. Davis started the quarter with a three, and then junior forward Sophie Brunner backed Thomas down to get a basket.
FSU only scored nine points in the quarter because ASU forced turnovers. The Seminoles had eight, including a span of five in a row over 3:09.
ASU scored seven points off the turnovers, taking a 39-33 lead.
Davis said the team had more poise in the second half than they did in the Sweet Sixteen.
“We were poised, we stayed together and connected, and we had our defense,” she said.
ASU’s shooting came alive to ice the game. Hawkins hit two threes and Davis hit another, scoring nine quick points.
Junior center Quinn Dornstauder said this was “absolutely” a revenge game. Davis agreed.
“That’s the only word to describe that game,” she said.
Correction: An earlier version did not account for Monday's updated rankings. It has been corrected.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsman on Twitter.
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