Senior guard Micaela Pickens pulls up for an off-balanced shot during the Sun Devils’ 59-51 win over Utah last season on Jan. 21. (Photo by Sam Rosenbaum)A boost from the frontcourt helped the ASU women’s basketball team finish 2-1 and win the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout over the weekend.
ASU (2-3) won its first game of the season to Northern Iowa on Friday. The Sun Devils lost a close game to North Carolina State on Saturday, but finished strong on Sunday by beating Florida.
Although the backcourt had a huge impact and filled the stat sheets, it was a team effort and the whole weekend was part of the process of improving the young Sun Devil squad.
“I really think that (it was) our team cohesion,” coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “We never got negative and never started doubting ourselves, each other, the coaches, or the system.
“We saw that we were getting better and we just stayed the course. We’re working harder and it’s starting to show now.”
The first game was a nail biter. In the thick of the second half, the Sun Devils went on a 10-3 run, which Northern Iowa quickly countered with a 10-4 run of its own.
Junior center Joy Burke scored 14 points and senior guard Micaela Pickens netted 13, as they both tied their respective career-highs to lead the Sun Devils to their first victory, 66-63.
The second game came down to the wire as well.
Burke had another big game for ASU, earning her first double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Deep into the second half, after N.C. State stretched its lead to 69-62, Pickens and freshmen Arnecia Hawkins would hit a pair of three-pointers to cut the lead to 69-68.
But the Sun Devils were unable to come up with a stop and ended up losing 72-68.
Pickens scored in double-digits again, contributing 10 points.
ASU won the tournament in efficient fashion, shooting 58 percent in its Sunday game versus Florida as redshirt senior forward Janae Fulcher poured in a career-high 26 points.
Fulcher was 13-of-16 from the field and grabbed five boards.
“It felt great,” Fulcher said. “I was able to take my time and I would have to accredit a lot to my teammates.”
Fulcher said the tournament showed how important teamwork and accountability is to this group.
Burke had her third game in double figures, scoring 11 points.
Sophomore Promise Amukamara scored 11 as well, and had a career-high seven steals.
It was the most steals by a Sun Devil since Tenaya Watson had nine versus Cal Poly back on Dec. 9, 2010.
ASU enforced its inside presence, scoring 50 points in the paint compared to just 24 for the Gators.
“They want to have us run the floor and look to get it inside,” Burke said. “The more we finish our shots and play strong, the more the guards will give us the ball.”
The Sun Devils showed spurts of excellence this weekend, but Turner Thorne made it clear they’re not a one-dimensional offensive team.
“To be a very good basketball team, we have to have a balanced attack,” Turner Thorne said. “We said all year is that it’s going to be different people every game.”
Reach the reporter at gdemano@asu.edu
