All ASU has done over the last week is hold the nation’s then-leading scorer to 17 points, defeat WSU’s devastating duo of guards by 14 and dismantle UA twice by a combined 64 points. The Sun Devils' margin of victory is 18.4 and their rebounding is increasing.
If ASU can find ways to move better off the ball and fix its sometimes-stagnant offense, it could be a threat among the elite.
Stanford’s first week of Pac-12 play was very similar to ASU’s: victories against a couple of lower-tier conference teams and then a pair of victories against the Washington schools. Stanford’s victories weren’t so dominant, though — the Cardinal defeated Washington by just four and then took WSU to overtime before putting it away.
Sophomore guard Lili Thompson has increased her scoring average to 15.6 on extremely efficient shooting (49.2 percent). Impressive victories early in the year keep it in the top-two, but the Cardinal could easily be replaced next week by the up and rising OSU.
OSU’s defense has been right up with ASU’s as the best in the conference. The Beavers have not allowed a team to score 70 points, and twice, the defense has held the opposition to a point total in the 30s. In addition, OSU has scored fewer than 70 just once.
The Beavers' competition level is the only thing halting it in this ranking. Their Pac-12 competition has been less than impressive and it has only played against two ranked teams in the whole season (winning one). The upcoming week against the Washington schools will be telling — they very well could be the best team in the conference.
Despite going 2-2 in conference play, Washington looked very strong in its wins against UA and Cal. The Huskies average 78.7 points per game, which is in the top 20 in the nation.
Sophomore guard Kelsey Plum is still averaging 24.8 points per game and Washington is in the upper echelon of the conference.
Cal proved it was better than WSU by defeating them 70-62 on Friday. Its victories over Utah and Colorado aren’t very significant, but Cal did hang in with Washington before falling 79-77 and giving up 30 to Plum.
Cal has shown it has many threats on the court; four of its players average at least 12 points per game and senior forward Reshanda Grey is up to 18.5 per contest while shooting 57.1 percent. Just as impressive, five players average more than five rebounds per game, and two are above eight.
WSU has gone 1-3 in Pac-12 play with three losses against fierce competition (ASU, Cal and Stanford) and a win against UA. The starting guards, junior Lia Galdeira and senior Tia Presley form one of the scariest backcourt duos in the league. The team’s issue is that outside of those two, there are no go-to scoring options. If Galdeira and Presley can figure out a way to average about 33 minutes a game without tiring down, WSU will be formidable. As of now, though, neither averages more than 29, leaving 20 minutes a game to junior Taylor Edmonson, who shoots 30 percent and averages 5.7 points and under 1.5 assists per game.
Despite losing to UCLA, the Trojans remain above the Bruins in the power rankings. USC’s record against tougher competition stands out, and its defeat of Oregon is more impressive than UCLA’s Pac-12 victories.
Senior forward Alexyz Vaioletama has carried USC to an impressive 11-5 start by increasing her scoring average to 12.8 from 8.6 last year and her steals to two per game. She and junior guard Brianna Barrett, who’s averaging three steals a game, have led a formidable defense that’s allowed 70 points or fewer 12 times.
UCLA’s upset over USC was just that: an upset. The Bruins have scored more than 65 points only one time over the last five games, coming in a 90-84 victory over Colorado. The team managed to score 49 points in a victory over Utah and 59 in the USC game. UCLA’s overall scoring margin is -3.8 and its turnover margin is a measly .5.
Sure, Oregon defeated UCLA. However, the Ducks scored fewer than 40 points as many times as they’ve scored more than 64 (once). The team is averaging only 50.2 points per game and is being outscored on average by more than 15. The one high point is junior forward Jillian Alleyne, who continues to be an absolute monster on the glass. Through four games of Pac-12 play, she’s averaging 16 rebounds.
On the bright side, Colorado’s overall scoring margin is 1.9, meaning the 0-4 in-conference team averages a score two points higher than its opponent. On the dark side, Colorado is 0-4 in conference play and is being outscored by 12.3 against Pac-12 teams. The Buffaloes will look to get in the win column next week when they take on Utah twice.
On Saturday, UA showed signs of solid play against ASU before tiring out in the second half. The more telling sign was Thursday, when it fell at home by 47 to the visiting Sun Devils. Their rotation defense in the post needs help and redshirt senior guard Candice Warthen needs some sort of offense help, or teams are going to continue to feel comfortable attacking her when she attempts to drive.
Utah hasn’t scored 50 points since entering Pac-12 play. Outside of a 100-point overtime outburst against San Jose State, the Utes haven’t even broken 67 points. Utah is simply hoping sophomore forward Malia Nawahine will recover soon. She’s been injured since the third game of the season and averages 13.3 points per game, second-highest on the team.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsman on Twitter.
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