Arizona State suffered its first loss at home of the season to the Grand Canyon Antelopes on Friday afternoon, as GCU downed the Sun Devils 66-59.
The Sun Devils had the better offensive performance in the game but it was not enough. Sophomore guard Trayanna Crisp shot 4-7 from behind the arc, which accounted for more than half of the seven total threes ASU made.
The Antelopes scored one less field goal in the game than the Sun Devils did.
However, the difference in the game was at the free-throw line. Both teams were perfect from the line in the game until the end of the 4th quarter. The differential was where problems arose for the Sun Devils.
“We had eight free throw attempts. That’s not us,” said ASU coach Natasha Adair. “We’re a team that normally gets to the free throw line 20 plus times.”
Grand Canyon shot 20 free throws, making 18. The free-throw advantage allowed GCU to hang on to its lead in the fourth quarter despite losing the quarter by three points.
Throughout the first half, sophomore guard Jalyn Brown kept the Sun Devils in the game with her scoring performance. She finished with 16 points and shot 7-of-16 from the field.
The teams went into the locker room with a tie game, similar to how ASU’s last game against the Pacific Tigers went into halftime. A tied score of 28-28 last week, and this time, a tied score of 29-29 at the half.
The other advantage that GCU held over the Sun Devils was on full display in the third quarter: rebounding. The Antelopes ultimately outrebounded ASU 22-17, but the advantage on the glass in the third allowed them to win the quarter 17-7.
GCU senior forward Olivia Lane had 13 of her rebounds in the game, which contributed to fast break opportunities on the other end to keep the lead-up. Lane was also responsible for 12 of the 18 free throws made by GCU.
In the end, the Sun Devils attempted a large comeback in the 4th quarter and cut it to just four points a couple of times.
Senior guard Jaddan Simmons finally seemed to get a rhythm going and ended the game with 20 points, the most by any player in this game.
Crisp started a shooting streak that built the momentum for the Sun Devils toward the finish line but wasn’t enough. Both Crisp and Simmons combined for one block and eight steals in the game.
“For the defensive side, I’ve been working on being more lateral and being able to move and adjust quicker,” said Crisp. “On the offensive side, I’ve just been working, just trying to be more consistent.”
Lopes senior forward Tiarra Brown and junior guard Nadia Evans saw the comeback attempt and shut it down quickly. Evans silenced the crowd with back-to-back three-pointers, and Brown got the necessary fast break points and boards in the late game to help keep GCU ahead for the final buzzer.
The Sun Devils’ next opponent will be a while from now, on Dec. 17 against another in-state opponent at home, the Wildcats of Arizona.
Adair made it very clear what her team needs to do better going forward.
“We got to be way more aggressive.”
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