It was a game of two halves for the ASU women’s basketball team, and in the end No. 4 Stanford dominated the last 10 minutes to post a 72-54 win on Thursday night in Tempe.
The Sun Devils (13-7, 5-5 Pac-10) looked sharp in the first half but were unable to keep the pressure on the Cardinal (19-2, 10-0) in the second period. This was disappointing after working so hard for the first 20 minutes, sophomore guard Deja Mann said.
“For me personally, we play to win,” Mann said. “Whoever it is, if it’s Stanford or if it’s Washington State, we play to win. We don’t play to hang with anybody.
“We did do some good things, but I’m pretty sure each of us is disappointed in the loss.”
Stanford had three scorers in double digits, including senior forward Kayla Pedersen, who had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Jeanette Pohlen led all scorers with 19 points, and junior forward Nnemkadi Ogwumike finished with 17 points and three rebounds.
“I think I’ve seen all the top teams play, and they’re the only team in America right now that has three All-Americans,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “I was proud of our effort, but I was disappointed that we let up.”
ASU’s top scorer was junior forward Kimberly Brandon, who posted 18 points and five rebounds.
The Sun Devils were without regular starting point guard Dymond Simon for the first time this season. The redshirt senior has been out all week with concussion symptoms and wasn’t cleared to play.
Mann and freshman Adrianne Thomas split point guard duties in Simon’s absence, and did a solid job, Turner Thorne said.
“I thought we got really strong play from Deja Mann and Adrianne Thomas,” Turner Thorne said. “All in all I thought they had very, very strong games, both offensively and defensively.”
Sophomore forward Joy Burke was also out due to injury, further shortening the Sun Devil’s bench.
ASU was far more aggressive this game than they were the last time the two teams met on Jan. 8, and part of that was due to the play of the guards, Brandon said.
“They really stepped up,” Brandon said. “They were big, they pushed the ball, we were going and we had some transition. I thought it was really good.”
The Sun Devils kept within striking distance of the Cardinal for most of the first half. An early layup put ASU up 2-0, but that would be their only lead of the game.
Several times the Sun Devils came within a basket of tying the game. But ASU had a hard time finishing when it counted.
A 10-0 run by the Cardinal with 8:50 left in the first half put ASU down by 12 points, but a very stubborn defense, combined with some fearless drives into the lane, brought the Sun Devils to within five at the half.
However, ASU shot just 30.8 percent from the field, compared to 45.5 percent from Stanford. The Sun Devils also missed seven free throws and easily could have been tied or even ahead at the break.
“We had done pretty much everything we wanted to do,” Mann said. “We just fouled a little too much and had too many turnovers. The plan was to fix that in the second half.”
The Cardinal immediately looked like a different team in the second half, coming out with much energy. But the ASU was still able to keep the deficit to single digits, prompting Stanford to switch to zone defense.
Pohlen picked up her fourth foul early in the half and sat out for much of the period.
But Pedersen and Ogwumike were more than willing to pick up the slack, combining for 20 points in the second half.
In the last ten minutes, the Sun Devils just appeared to run out of steam, and the Cardinal were ready to take advantage and run away with the game.
One area where ASU should have been able to capitalize was turnovers, Mann said.
“There were times where we’d get the ball and turn it right back over, literally in like three seconds,” Mann said.
The Sun Devils would finish with a plus-two turnover margin, and ball control was one significant improvement since the last time the two teams played, Turner Thorne said.
ASU now turns to the game against Cal on Saturday, where the key will be taking away the inside game, Brandon said.
“I think our posts have gotten better, we’ve been practicing, so we’re a bit better on the defensive end,” Brandon said. “With them, it’s all about getting second shots, because they’re a great rebounding team.”
Reach the reporter at egrasser@asu.edu
