ASU Basketball: Devils stay in Pac-12 hunt after win vs. Cal

ASU basketball really needed Sunday’s win against Cal considering the road ahead and they turned to their bread and butter to edge the Golden Bears.

Sunday’s Pac-12 showdown between No. 19 Arizona State and No. 24 California was the only ranked matchup in the country and the game lived up to the billing.

Both teams desperately needed to win this game considering the Pac-12’s difficulty. Cal entered Sunday having lost four of five games including a loss at Arizona Friday night.

The Sun Devils were coming off a narrow loss to No. 6 Stanford after a poor first half offensively was too much to overcome. They couldn’t afford to fall to 2-3 in conference play with a road trip to the Oregon schools looming next weekend.

You could feel the intensity from both teams. They knew of the game’s magnitude.

Arizona State leaned on two foundational pieces, team defense and senior Kianna Ibis, to edge out a 62-61 win.

Ibis scored 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including shooting 4-of-4 from behind the arc, to lead all scorers. The Sun Devils needed her to step up after a 6-point performance against Stanford two days earlier.

“Today (Sunday), I felt more aggressive. (Head coach) Charli (Turner Thorne) got after me and told me I needed to be more aggressive. I needed to step up and be a big playmaker for the team,” Ibis said. “I just told myself I was going to be aggressive today and I’m going to be confident and stay confident and not get in my head.”

The game featured 18 lead changes and 13 ties with the largest lead being an ASU six point lead early in the fourth quarter.

After going up 54-48, and forward Sophia Elenga and center Charnea Johnson-Chapman playing with four fouls, Golden Bears forward Kristine Anigwe made her presence known.

Anigwe, a Phoenix native, totaled 15 points and 10 rebounds in the second half as she finished her final collegiate game in Arizona with 21 points and 16 rebounds.

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In the final minute, with the game tied at 61, ASU’s defense picked up two stops. The first stop came with 27 seconds remaining as Cal couldn’t get a shot off resulting in a shot-clock violation.

After guard Reili Richardson made one of two free throws with 4.7 seconds remaining, Cal had one more chance to win the game.

Everyone inside Wells Fargo Arena knew it was going to Anigwe, including the Sun Devils.

“We decided we were going to double team her the whole game, especially when it came down to the last minutes,” Ibis said. “We knew they were going to throw it to her so we really keyed in and tried to pressure whoever was throwing it in. She (Richardson) came over at the last second and hit it right out of her hands.”

Richardson stripped the ball from the Cal center and Bears guard Asha Thomas was forced to put up a last-second baseline jumper from behind the basket that was no good and ASU held on for the victory.

The Sun Devils avoided a home sweep and improved to 12-4 and, more importantly, 3-2 in Pac-12 play.

Next up, arguably the two best perimeter teams in the country, Oregon and Oregon State. Both sit in the top-10 of the current AP poll and have an undefeated conference record.

Every week in the Pac-12 is going to be a grind with the league as competitive as it’s ever been. Right now, we could be staring at eight teams getting into the NCAA Tournament.

“There’s no easy weekend, but obviously going up there at 3-2 is a lot better than going up there 2-3,” head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “Obviously, getting a bit tougher and playing a little bit better on both sides of the ball. I feel more confident just going on that trip now and I’m sure our team does as well.”

ASU sits just 1.5 games out of the pole position and just one game back of a first round bye in the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament.

If the Sun Devils can get at least a split next weekend, the next seven games look favorable as they’ll have a three-game homestand against UCLA, USC and Arizona, a road trip against the Washington schools, before returning home to host the Mountain schools.

While no game is a given this season in the Pac-12, Arizona State could be sitting with an 11-3 conference record before finishing the season against the Bay Area and Oregon schools.

They would be sitting pretty to be a host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament if they can get on a run.

Last season, ASU lost two one-possession games to Oregon State before finally getting past them in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals.

ASU lost both meetings to Oregon last year but held Oregon to just 57 points in their most recent meeting after they averaged over 80 a game.

The Sun Devils have the same roster as last season and it wouldn’t surprise anybody if they pulled off the upset(s) next weekend.

Next. ASU Basketball: Sun Devils grind out win over No. 24 Cal. dark

But, for now, ASU will take it one game at a time. The Ducks will be the first opponent Friday night before facing the Beavers next Sunday.

Here we go.

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