The word “synergy” is rarely used outside of SAT prep classes or philiosophical discussion.
But it’s been the name of the game for the ASU women’s basketball team the past two weeks.
Team chemistry is something that coach Charli Turner Thorne admitted has been lacking throughout the 2009-10 season, and she hopes that cohesiveness will improve when the Sun Devils (18-13) tangle with Brigham Young in the second round of the WNIT on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
“You want to have five people out there talking the whole time that they’re playing, and we’re still not at that point, but we’ve definitely gotten better at it,” she said. “That’s how I’m sort of evaluating our team right now. I don’t really care, individually, who’s doing what … I really care more about who’s out there making people around them better and who’s really helping us play together.”
Last week, it was ASU’s freshmen that were playing the best together in practice, so Turner Thorne shook things up by starting the five rookies — guards Sabrina McKinney, Deja Mann and Haley Parsons and post players Janae Fulcher and Joy Burke — in the Sun Devils’ WNIT first-round contest against New Mexico State.
And the lineup shuffle couldn’t have worked out much better, as Fulcher (18 points) and Burke (14 points) both set new career-highs in scoring, and ASU rolled to an 84-61 victory to advance to the second round.
“It was very exciting [for the freshmen to start] and once we got our nerves out of the way, it really showed,” Burke said. “Sabrina and Janae and just everyone stepped up, so I was really proud of them. I think everyone feels really good about it, and we all want our season to keep going.”
But Turner Thorne said the rest of the team has turned up the intensity during the extended practice time since Wednesday’s contest, and on Sunday she still had “no idea” who will start against BYU.
“Everybody has really stepped it up,” Turner Thorne said. “All the freshmen were really doing well last week in practice, and this week it’s kind of a whole new story because everybody else has really raised their level. That’s a great thing — that’s what you want.”
BYU (21-9) finished second in the regular-season Mountain West standings with an 11-5 record but was hammered by San Diego State 77-47 in the semifinals of the conference tournament to eliminate its NCAA Tournament hopes.
The Cougars then notched a 62-58 comeback win against Pepperdine at home in the first round of the WNIT, a team that ASU beat 62-52 in December.
The Cougars have the ability to get it done on both ends of the floor, as they ranked second in the MWC in field goal percentage (.426), scoring defense (57.3 points per game) and rebounding margin (+3.7) and first in assists (16.7 per game).
“They’re just running a lot of motion [offense] looks,” Burke said. “It’s kind of different — we haven’t played against this in a while. They can all shoot the [3-pointer], so we need to make sure we step out on them and we can’t give them any clean looks.”
BYU gets a big chunk of its production from a trio of junior guards, led by Mindy Bonham, who was a second-team All-MWC and All-Defensive Team honoree after averaging 11.4 points, four rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
Jazmine Foreman (9.5 points, 3.8 assists, 1.9 steals per game) and Haley Hall (8.8 points, 4.1 assists, 2.3 steals per game) were All-MWC Honorable Mention selections, and Foreman was also named to the conference’s All-Defensive team.
The extended layoff between games should prove beneficial to ASU senior guard and scoring leader Danielle Orsillo, who suffered a concussion in the Sun Devils’ loss to California in the Pac-10 Tournament Quarterfinals on March 12 and played just 17 minutes against NMSU.
Like ASU, the Cougars use a deep post rotation and get a boost off the bench from junior forward Coriann Wood, who is the MWC Sixth Player of the Year. She has a versatile inside-outside game that has helped her lead the conference in 3-point shooting percentage and also grab 5.4 rebounds per game.
“She’s a three/four [player], so she’s going to swing to the four,” Turner Thorne said. “She’s a 45 percent 3-point shooter and one of their top scorers.”
Based on their performances last week, Burke and Fulcher will likely see increased minutes on the block again to combine with consistent production of junior Becca Tobin (9.8 points, 6.3 rebounds per game) and senior Kayli Murphy (7.3 points, six rebounds per game).
Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu
