When the two best defensive teams in the Pac-12 compete, there is not going to be a lot of scoring.
Strong defense and struggling offense was the story for both teams when the ASU women’s basketball team played Utah on Thursday. The Utes (11-12, 4-8 Pac-12) were able to scrape together a close defensive win 50–46 over the Sun Devils (15-8, 6-6 Pac-12).
“Hats off to them. They did a great job,” coach Joseph Anders said. “It was a hard-fought game at our place, and it was another hard-fought game here today. They were able to come out on the plus end.”
From the start of the game, it seemed there were lids on the hoops.
Tenacious defense from both teams caused the weak offensive performances. In the first half, neither team got clean looks at the basket.
The Sun Devils only hit four of their 28 shots in the first half, shooting 16.7 percent from the field.
Utah was not much better, shooting 27.8 percent.
The Utes were successful from behind the 3-point line. They made three big shots to help them to a 20-15 lead at the end of the first half.
Early in the first half, the Utes could not hold on to the ball. Utah coughed up nine turnovers in the first half.
ASU was not able to change those turnovers into points as the Sun Devils only managed to create four points off of Utah’s turnovers.
Right before the end of the first half, junior guard Michaela Pickens and senior forward Kimberly Brandon made two baskets to jump-start the ASU offense.
The small spark appeared to carry over to the second half.
The Sun Devils’ shooting improved in the second half. ASU finished the night shooting 30 percent.
Anders said the team made some adjustments to open up the offense and Utah answered back.
“It was a lot better,” Anders said. “But every time we would get a little bit of momentum, they would come down and counter that with an offensive rebound or a foul, and that just strips the momentum out of the play.”
Junior guard Deja Mann stepped up in the second half for the Sun Devils. She led the team with 12 points and kept the team in the game.
The second half featured an exciting back-and-forth match. The score was tied four times and there were seven lead changes.
The poor shooting in the first half made it difficult to come back in the second.
“That first half for us was a disappointment because we know that we are better than 15 points, and of course, (that) set the tone for a very tough second 20 minutes where we were able to battle,” Anders said.
Late in the game, the Sun Devils were down 48–46 and had the ball with a chance to tie.
Mann put up a jumper that bounced off the iron, but Utah senior guard Janita Badon secured the rebound.
Badon was immediately fouled and iced the game with two clutch free throws.
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
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