The big focus for the ASU women’s basketball team heading into the ASU Classic Friday will be finishing games strong.
A late-game collapse on Saturday led to a 10-point loss to No. 14 Florida State, and it is something ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne doesn’t want to see again.
“As hard as it is to lose two games this early, I think we really know exactly what we need to improve,” Turner Thorne said. “So we started at 8 a.m. [Tuesday] morning, and we’re addressing those things.”
In order to start improving, the level of intensity has been turned up in practice, redshirt senior guard Dymond Simon said.
“Practice definitely changed,” Simon said. “I think the coaches definitely emphasized going harder, and that’s something we lack right now in our offense. Rebounding has been a huge key for our team, and just communication on the floor, especially on transition defense. Florida State was definitely a transition team.”
Turner Thorne said that for most of the weekend, the defense looked pretty solid, and focus has shifted slightly to improving the offense. The Sun Devils haven’t been themselves from the three-point line, shooting only 15.9 percent, and need to work on creating better looks, Turner Thorne said.
One bright spot on offense is redshirt sophomore forward Janae Fulcher, who is shooting 66.7 percent from the field and averaging 7.6 points per game. When asked about her shooting, however, Fulcher was humble.
“There’s always that, ‘But I could do better.’” Fulcher said. “I’m really just going to try to focus on the defensive aspect of my game.”
The Sun Devils are playing at home for the first time since Nov. 12, a victory over NAU in their season opener.
On Friday, ASU faces Cal Poly (2-2), a team that fell short of making the NIT tournament after an early exit in the Big West Conference Tournament last season. The Mustangs finished last year with an 18-11 record and only lost three players to graduation.
After winning its first two games this season, Cal Poly dropped a game to Loyola Marymount and then gave up a whopping 104 points in a blowout loss to Illinois.
So far this season, senior guard Rachel Clancy has led the Mustangs. She is averaging 13.8 points per game and also leads in rebounds, assists and minutes played. However, Cal Poly took a big hit in the first game when last season’s Big West Conference Player of the Year, senior forward Kristina Santiago, went down with an ACL tear.
Junior Abby Bloetscher and junior guard Ashlee Burns are also averaging more than 10 points per game for the Mustangs.
On Saturday, ASU will face either New Mexico (4-2) or Lamar (5-2).
UNM already has a couple quality wins under its belt, including a double-overtime thriller against California. The Lobos are led in scoring by junior guard Lauren Taylor, who is averaging 13 points per game.
Lamar also got off to a solid start this season, but is coming off a humbling 44-point loss to No. 9 Tennessee on Wednesday.
Key for the Cardinals will be the play of senior guard Jenna Plumley, who set a Lamar record for assists last year and currently leads Lamar in assists and points this season.
Reach the reporter at egrasser@asu.edu
