ASU guard/forward Kimberly Brandon raises the ball away from a UC Riverside defender during the Sun Devils’ 66-46 win over the Highlanders on Nov. 11. The Sun Devils remain undefeated at 3-0 after knocking off Boston College on Sunday. (Photo by Sam Rosenbaum)It is more important to finish the game.
When the ASU women’s basketball team hosted the Boston College Eagles on Sunday, it took a little time for the Sun Devils to get going, but beat the Eagles decisively in the end.
From the opening tip the Sun Devils struggled offensively. In its first couple shooting attempts the team went 1-6.
Coach Joseph Anders took a timeout and when the team returned to the court, the offensive production increased.
Senior guard Alex Earl said the unselfish play helped the Sun Devils turn it around.
“We share the ball a lot more when the game got going a little bit,” Earl said. “I think that puts us in better positions to score baskets.”
After the slow start, the Sun Devils picked it up the rest of the game and ended the game shooting 54.7 percent.
Anders said he did not have to tell the team anything when shots were not going in. He was confident in his shooters.
“We knew that we were very, very good shooters and it’s just a matter of time offensively,” Anders said. “Once you saw the ball go through the basket the first time, it seemed go in bunches at that point.”
Once the shots started falling the Sun Devils took control of the game. They went into halftime ahead of the Eagles, 34-23.
In the second half the starters hit the floor for ASU and kept the momentum rolling. The ASU offense attacked BC early, hitting 5-6 of their first shots to put more pressure on the Eagles.
Anders said that in their past couple games they play well in one half but not in the other. He said that coming out strong and playing well the entire game has been a focus this season.
“We are in search right now, as most teams are, of a complete game,” Anders said. “Today was as close as we have gotten to a complete ball game.”
The second half push was in part due to the performance of senior forward Kimberly Brandon. Brandon led the team with 18 points with 14 of her points coming in the second half.
Anders said that Brandon started out slow for ASU in the start of the first half. Then at the end of the first half Brandon took advantage of a baseline jumper coming off a screen twice. She then took that momentum into the second half.
Brandon gave credit to her teammates for the success.
“My teammates, they got me the ball in the right places and they were setting good screens so I was wide open for the majority of my shots,” Brandon said.
It was another strong defensive performance by the Sun Devils in Wells Fargo Arena. ASU held the Eagles to 29 percent shooting.
BC sophomore guard Shayra Brown was the Eagles top scorer going into the game average about 10 points a game. The Sun Devils’ defense held her to only two points.
After winning by 20 points, the Sun Devils still have room to improve. Anders said he was disappointed with the 19 turnovers and being out-rebounded by Boston College.
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
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