This season the women’s Pac-10 Tournament has a new format, and the ASU women’s basketball team heads in with No. 3 seed and a good chance of making it to at least the semifinals.
The Sun Devils (19-9, 11-7 Pac-10) face off against Oregon State on Wednesday in the opening game of the tournament and have won five of their last six games, including a win over the Beavers (9-20, 2-16) in the last game of the regular season on Saturday.
Although ASU swept Oregon State in the regular season, both games came down to the final few minutes. The Sun Devils won by a combined eight points in both games, and they will have to play better in the tournament, ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said.
“I’m still completely unsatisfied in two games against Oregon State,” Turner Thorne said in a radio interview after Saturday’s game. “I’m glad that we’re playing them again on Wednesday. They’re a good team, and we’ve had close games, and I should probably want to play somebody that we’ve beaten a little bit better, but at the same time, we can play better.”
OSU finished dead last in the conference, but were competitive all season. Their defense is third best in the Pac-10, behind only Stanford and UCLA.
ASU junior forward Kimberly Brandon said that the Sun Devils’ offense needs the most improvement going into the tournament.
“We’ve can still work on our offense and try to execute more,” Brandon said. “On defense, I think we did pretty good, we just need to communicate and talk a little bit more.”
The biggest story heading into the women’s conference tournament is the new format. In the past the top six seeds got a first-round bye, while the lower four seeds battled to reach the quarterfinals. This structure is still used in the men’s tournament.
This year, however, the top two seeds, Stanford and UCLA, get byes for the first two rounds, while the remaining eight teams play a mini tournament to see who will face the Cardinal and the Bruins in the semifinals.
In other words, the top two teams in the conference benefit greatly from this new format, something that Turner Thorne said they deserved this season.
“It probably played out this year pretty well to what we intended it for,” Turner Thorne said. “It really does make sense for us to play the other teams in the conference and have an opportunity to maybe get a few more wins.”
Turner Thorne also pointed out that if the top three or four teams in the conference are ever tied or only separated by a single game, the teams that finish third and fourth would suffer.
But that’s something to worry about in the offseason. Right now, the Sun Devils look to be a lock for the NCAA tournament.
A good run in the Pac-10s could lead to a good run in the Big Dance, and that’s what ASU hopes to do.
Reach the reporter at egrasser@asu.edu
Wednesday’s Game
Sun Devils vs. Beavers
When: 12:00 p.m. PT
Where: Galen Center, Los Angeles
OSU update: The two teams last faced off on Saturday, a 59-54 ASU victory. The Beavers have been a fringe team all season. This is their last chance to grab a quality win.
