Junior guard Arnecia Hawkins drives to the basket in a game against Middle Tennessee, Friday. Nov. 14, 2014 at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The Sun Devils defeated the Blue Raiders 81-67. (Photo by Ben Moffat)On Thursday, the ASU women's basketball team routed UA 88-41 in Tucson, but in the rematch on Saturday, UA (7-8, 0-4 Pac-12) hung around longer against No. 18 ASU (15-1, 4-0 Pac-12). Low-post play from sophomore forward Sophie Brunner pushed ASU to a 71-54 victory.
“A big part of our offensive game plan coming in the second time was just going at their post players because they play high-side and you can get those one-footers,” ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said.
In the first half, the team as a whole was hesitant to pass the ball down low. To make matters worse, there wasn’t much movement beyond the three-point arch. With very few slashes and backdoor cuts, ASU’s offense was stagnant.
In addition to this, Turner Thorne said the bench didn’t play as well as she expected. The players weren’t “taking good instruction” and were not running plays correctly. This led to a lot of “standing around.” Sophomore forward Kelsey Moos had the flu, so her minutes were limited. Brunner got into early foul trouble, getting knocked for two in the first three minutes, so the bench received more playing time than anticipated.
ASU went into the half nursing a small 31-28 edge.
Brunner came out strong in the second, though. Junior guard Elisha Davis began to pass less cautiously and found her down low often. Brunner scored 10 of ASU’s first 13 points in the half, starting an 11-4 second half run.
“The guards did a really good job pushing the ball and seeing me,” Brunner said.
A lot of her baskets came in transition, but part of Brunner’s success came from much more movement down low. Other players were able to get in the way and create a small diversion, enough to force the defenders into moving more than necessary.
Another part of her success came from a nifty post move. On multiple occasions, she slowly crept out of the paint. When she got far enough from the basket, she would make a quick move and the ball handler would toss a pass to her over her defender’s head. Because she was far enough from the hoop, she could make a basket catch and be in an open position to drop the ball home.
She said that it was a play the team works on and in which they focused on keeping the defender on the high side. No help defense ever arrived, and the coach attributed that to fast play.
“They do try to help over on the high-side defense… but at least eight to 10 of those points were kind of so fast they couldn’t get somebody there,” Turner Thorne said.
Brunner went 8-for-11 in the second half, scoring 20 points. She finished with 26 in the game, breaking her career high of 24. Brunner was one rebound away from a double-double.
“Sophie had a field day,” Turner Thorne said.
Her success helped lead to fewer turnovers and as a result, fewer UA points. ASU had 10 turnovers in the first half, compared to UA’s 11.
UA came out of the gate more aggressive than Thursday to begin the game. It was effective; ASU didn’t score its second basket until 13:37 in the first half.
Fortunately for ASU, UA only had four points at that time as well.
Shortly after, ASU went on a 10-0 run led by senior guard Promise Amukamara and sophomore center Quinn Dornstauder. The Sun Devils maintained a small lead throughout the remainder of the half, going into break with a narrow lead.
In addition to aggressive defense, UA was attacking the basket mercilessly. ASU got lucky to go into break with their lead: UA missed six layups and more short jumpers.
Amukamara said her team wasn’t concerned about UA’s pressure.
“That’s not something they’re comfortable with doing and so we knew that they weren’t going to be able to sustain it,” she said.
She was right. With less aggression and more passing down low, ASU managed to keep the ball safer. The Sun Devils didn’t turn the ball over until the final two minutes, when freshman center Ayanna Edwards got called for an offensive foul.
ASU maintained its own aggression, and Amukamara led the charge once again. UA’s season-leading scorer, redshirt senior guard Candice Warthen, didn’t make her second field goal until 5:27 remaining in the game. She finished with 13 points, right on par with her season average, but six came in garbage time when ASU had already pulled ahead.
“She likes to get to the rim and she loves to pull up shots,” Amukamara said. “I just stayed down and stayed in my stance.”
Though UA’s defense came out strong, ASU’s lasted for longer. Turner Thorne said that will be the key for them to maintain what’s been the best start to any ASU women’s basketball season.
She said she asked her team if anyone plays defense as hard as they do. The team responded that no other team did.
“I said, ‘That’s right,’” she said. “That’s going to keep separating us.”
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Logan_Newsman
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter
