In contrast to a strong performance against Oregon State in the quarterfinals, ASU women’s basketball struggled in the loss to Stanford Saturday.
After a come from behind win against Oregon State Friday, Arizona State could not find their stride early against Stanford, leading to the 58-46 loss in the Pac-12 Tournament Semifinals.
The first half was not pretty for the Sun Devils.
In the first quarter, Arizona State couldn’t hit a shot with the team shooting 1-of-10 from the field, but that wasn’t their only problem. The Cardinal also racked up twice as many boards as the Sun Devils in the first, out-rebounding ASU 10-5 in the quarter.
Starting the second quarter down 10, ASU was already in a hole. These first 10 minutes set the tone for the entire game, for the Sun Devils could never come within single digits for the remainder of the game.
At one point in the second quarter, the Sun Devils trailed 27-7. This lowered the confidence of the team going forward in the game, as 20 points is a wide gap to close, especially in the second quarter.
“Obviously it was a struggle,” sophomore Kiara Russell said. “But we tried to stay calm, stay collected and play together and play for each other.”
The third quarter was rough for ASU as well with Stanford doubling the Sun Devils’ points in the period. Similar to the first, the Sun Devils could not score and shot 20 percent from the field.
By the time ASU started playing together, the scoring margin was too large. Arizona State closed the game on a 16-2 run, but the Sun Devils were still toppled by double digits.
Saturday’s first three quarters were the worst I have seen Arizona State play in quite some time. The passes were sloppy, the shots were clanking and Reili Richardson got into foul trouble early. One of the only times the Sun Devils have struggled this much in 2018 was in their road game against Stanford.
While it was a rough game for the Sun Devils, Stanford should definitely receive credit where it is due.
The Cardinal’s defense was outstanding throughout the entire game, and they limited ASU’s starters to 23 points and recorded 10 steals. Offensively, Kiana Williams was near unstoppable for Stanford, scoring 24 points and shooting 9-of-11 from the field.
Next: ASU Basketball: Sun Devils’ Pac-12 championship hopes fall in loss to Stanford
Now that ASU has been eliminated from the Pac-12 Tournament, the Sun Devils need to use this performance as a learning experience. Arizona State has a couple weeks to prepare and make their final touch-ups before the NCAA Tournament begins.
All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.