The ASU women’s basketball team lost two conference games at home last weekend and is looking to turn things around.
The players and coaches faced something similar in the early part of January when ASU lost back-to-back home games to USC and UCLA. The Sun Devils bounced back and won five of six.
Coach Joseph Anders said he knows his team can rebound again if it raises its level of urgency.
“We’ve gone through a stretch where we’ve lost (three) Pac-12 games and then figured it out and began to work ourselves back into the position that we were,” Anders said. “We know what to do, we know how to do it. It is just a matter of us stepping up and doing those things on a more consistent basis.”
This is senior guard Alex Earl’s last season. She said she would work to get the team back on track.
“This season is not over,” Earl said. “We are not letting it slip away from us. Yeah, we lost two of these games, but we will absolutely bounce back.”
Offensive rebounding struggles
The Sun Devils’ struggled to rebound in each of their last two defeats.
Stanford out-rebounded ASU 42–23, and Cal won the battle of the boards 48–24.
Stanford and Cal are the top two rebounding teams in the conference.
Senior forward Kali Bennett said rebounds directly correlate with the score.
“Rebounding’s the story of our last two games,” Bennett said. “We are just not boxing out, we’re not going to get the ball. That gives them too many second chances.”
Anders said he needs more rebounding effort from his guards. He said Bennett usually has to play help defense, which makes it harder for her to box out.
“As a team, we need to have a great urgency in terms of everybody contributing on the boards,” Anders said. “Kali covers so much area in terms of … helping people when drives take place. People not able to rotate back in is an issue for us right now.”
The Sun Devils are only struggling at one side of the court when rebounding.
Currently, the Sun Devils are third in the Pac-12 in defensive rebounding and last in the conference in offensive rebounding.
Brandon banged up
The Sun Devils’ leading scorer is senior forward Kimberly Brandon. In her final season with the Sun Devils, she is averaging 10.8 points per game.
This past weekend, Brandon struggled to put up her usual numbers.
Stanford played strong defense against her. Late in the game, she suffered an ankle injury, which kept her out of the majority of the Cal game as well.
Brandon finished both games with only eight points.
A healthy Brandon is integral for the team’s push into the postseason.
“She absolutely is ready to compete how much we just don’t know,” Anders said. “She came in to visit with me and her sentiments were, ‘Coach, I know I’m not 100 percent, but I want to do whatever I can to help the team.’”
Seniors stepping up
As the season nears the end for ASU’s four seniors, each player has stepped up in various ways.
Bennett broke the school’s single-season record for blocks.
Senior guard Olivia Major worked to get into the starting rotation with her outside shooting.
Brandon has been a consistent force all year.
Earl found her stroke again and scored a total of 22 points over the last three games.
Each player knows this is their last season, and they are making the most of it.
“They are seniors and more than anything else, it’s time,” Anders said. “Those seniors now feel that urgency. Now they want to finish it in as grand a fashion as they can.”
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
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