This article was originally published on February 13, 2023.
The Arizona State Sun Devils (7-16, 0-14 Pac-12) struggled to keep up with the Stanford Cardinal (24-3, 12-2 Pac-12) in a 96-64 loss.
The Sun Devils’ defense struggled to rebound Stanford’s shots throughout the game, allowing them to have 19 second-chance points compared to zero from ASU. However, the Sun Devils were able to take second-chance points away from Stanford senior guard Hannah Jump, according to ASU head coach Natasha Adair.
“I thought we did a phenomenal job on Jump’s,” Adair said. “The scouting report was to kind of back off a little bit. She hadn’t been shooting the three ball that well or even the 17-footer, but we couldn’t let her get second-chance opportunities.”
Adair said the depth in which Stanford’s players play is the reason the Cardinal are No. 6 in the country, and said she hopes to build off this effort in their next game against Colorado (20-5, 11-3 Pac-12).
In the first half of the game, Stanford quickly took the lead by shooting 60% from the field compared to just under 23% for ASU. The Sun Devils did finish strong, shooting 11-16 from the field in the fourth quarter.
Junior Guard Tyi Skinner said she wants the team to build off its fourth-quarter effort and use it to “start off the game better,” as that is when the Sun Devils tend to play their best.
Skinner proved to be an important asset to the team with 23 points, the highest out of all players, and 40 minutes played. She had five assists, two turnovers and was just over 80% in free throw percentage.
“She’s distributing the ball; she’s getting her teammates involved,” Adair said. “She’s just becoming a more just balanced player, offensively, defensively and just within her leadership.”
According to Adair, one of the highlights of the game was ASU’s performance at the free throw line. The Sun Devils shot 71% as Stanford stayed at just over 63%.
“I thought we did a phenomenal job getting to the free throw line,” Adair said. “That means we were being really aggressive. Obviously, our goal is 80% or better, but these are things that they work on every day. And so we have to continue growing as a team.”
Arizona State will play Colorado Friday, Feb. 17, and Adair said she wants to build on the team’s effort against Stanford and not only focus on the areas of improvement.
“We’re going to show them where we need to improve, but we’re going to show them what they did well, and that’s just this group,” Adair said. “You keep building and building and building.”
Tipoff on Friday is set for 11 a.m. MST.
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