ASU Basketball: Sun Devils spread wealth in victory

ASU basketball uses balanced offensive attack to down Louisiana Tech in the opening game of the ASU Classic.

It was fully a collective team effort for Charli Thorne Turner’s group Saturday afternoon.

ASU defeated Louisiana Tech 80-44, using a strong bench performance and heavy offensive attack early in the contest. The Sun Devils outshot the Lady Techsters 71-57 and limited the team to only one made three.

ASU took a  commanding 21-6 lead in the first, making 11 of its first 14 attempts from the field. The success continued in the quarter as the Sun Devils held the Lady Techsters to only 11 points, while pilling up 29 points.

It was a dominant first half that put the Sun Devils ahead 30 by the second quarter buzzer.

Overall, the team shot 45 percent from the field, including 38 percent from deep. The three was especially present in the first quarter as ASU hit five of seven attempts in the period.

Senior Courtney Ekmark, who struggled from the field her past two games, hit her first three attempts from three and finished with 12 points on the contest.

But after making eight threes in the first half, the Sun Devils finished only one of nine from deep in the second half.

“We don’t want to only rely on only our perimeter shooting,” Thorne Turner said. “All together we do want to have a balanced scoring attack.”

And as the offensive focus shifted, getting the ball into the post became the focal point of Thorne Turner’s offense.

The Sun Devil’s combined for 34 points in the paint, with a big source of that coming from Charnea Johnson-Chapman. The senior had 10 points, on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.

Passing was also a key aspect of the Sun Devils victory.

ASU combined for 22 assists on 32 made field goals and from the backcourt. Robbi Ryan and Ekmark each had a team-high five assists, along with only turning over the ball a combined two times.

“I think we were really connecting and finding each other on the court,” said Ekmark. “It’s really fun when we play like that.”

In the first half, only one of the team’s 20 made field goals didn’t come off an assist. At that mark, the Sun Devils were shooting 54 percent from the field and had only recorded four turnovers.

On the contest, ASU had 17 more assists than Louisiana Tech, and controlled the boards with a plus-18 rebound margin.

The Sun Devils continue play Sunday taking on Tulsa in the championship game of the ASU Classic.

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.