ASU Basketball: Rebounding will key Devils’ run in March

If these close losses versus top-10 teams have proved anything, ASU basketball is going to have to rebound better if they want to make a deep run in March.

Rebounding is a cornerstone of the Arizona State women’s basketball program.

The Sun Devils are ranked fifth in the Pac-12 averaging 39.2 rebounds per game. According to Her Hoops Stats, entering Sunday, the Sun Devils rank 22nd in the nation total rebound rate (54.9 percent).

On Sunday, the Ducks want the rebounding battle 37-33, including 12 offensive rebounds leading to 14 second chance points.

“It was a great game,” Turner Thorne said. “Obviously, we knew it was going to come down to rebounding and we did not get the job done on the boards, especially in the fourth quarter. That was the difference in the game.”

It was a rather off shooting night for Oregon as the Ducks shot 42 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range.

In the end, Ducks guard Sabrina Ionescu came through in the fourth quarter scoring 11 points as the Ducks overcame a four-point deficit to win the game 66-59.

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Guard Reili Richardson finished as the team’s leading rebounder with nine.

“We all know that rebounding wins championships,” Turner Thorne said. “When we get that piece down, I think we’re right there to make a good run in March.”

Something else Turner Thorne wants to see from her team is aggressiveness from all players. Against the Ducks, forward Kianna Ibis finished with a game-high 23 points while guard Robbi Ryan had 12 points.

Ryan scored only one basket on two attempts in the second half as the offense mainly went through Ibis in the second half.

“We just need more people looking to score. I’m excited to see us in March just being much more aggressive,” Turner Thorne said. “We talked about it through the game like ‘hey, we’re not going to win this game unless everybody is aggressive offensively. We still lost some possessions because we weren’t aggressive offensively.

“The rebounding and that are the two things we’ve got to take into March and be like ‘come on.’ If you’re on the floor, you got to want to score. We have to have other people stepping up and looking to score,” Turner Thorne said. “We can’t just rely on Kianna (Ibis) and Courtney (Ekmark). Robbi (Ryan) did great and she’s been coming along, but we got other people that are quite capable. We just need to get them more aggressive.”

The Sun Devils will now begin postseason play beginning Thursday in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament against Colorado.

ASU will be the fifth-seed in Las Vegas and should they advance to the quarterfinals, they will have a rematch with UCLA after the Bruins sunk the Sun Devils 61-59 behind a late 3-pointer from guard Japreece Dean.

The Sun Devils swept the season series against Colorado winning in Boulder 76-70 and in Tempe 66-49. Colorado enters the Pac-12 Tournament finishing last in the conference with a 12-17 (2-16) record.

In the end, this was a good weekend for the Sun Devils. The offense had a much better flow and execution,  they handily beat ninth-ranked Oregon State and for the second time this season, they hung neck-and-neck with Oregon.

The Sun Devils could face Oregon for a third time this season in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. Last season, ASU lost two close games with Oregon State before breaking through against the Beavers in the quarterfinals.

For Arizona State, third time might be the charm.

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