A matchup against a ranked team gives unranked squads an opportunity to show their identity. The Sun Devils received that on Friday night as they hosted No. 15 Utah at Desert Financial Arena.
While they held the nation’s third-best scoring offense to its lowest point total of the season, the Sun Devils ultimately fell 58-41 to the Utes from poor offensive play.
“We held them to 58 points, this is a team that averages 91,” Arizona State head coach Natasha Adair said. “But on the flip side of it, we need to make those layups. We make our layups, we make our free throws, it’s a different ball game.”
The Sun Devils’ offense vanished late in the quarters. Utah went on an 11-0 run in the back half of the first, leading 18-7 at the break.
Woeful shooting continued into the latter quarters. The Maroon and Gold went scoreless in the last six minutes of the second, trailing 28-14 at the half, and they allowed the Utes to go on a 12-3 run in the last 3:27 of the third.
Elsewhere, the home side’s defense remained tenacious, forcing the Utes into jump ball situations, shot clock violations, and offensive fouls.
Despite the defensive performance, Adair believes her team gave too many second chances to the Utes.
“There were plays where they got second opportunities on offensive rebounds,” Adair said. “And so, when finishing the play, you made them take the shot that you want, it was a contested shot. You can’t let them get it back.”
Star players on both sides suffered in-game injuries. Arizona State’s sophomore guard Trayanna Crisp left the court with 5:37 left in the first quarter. Before her shoulder injury, the Goodyear native led the team with 12 points in their previous game, a loss to Santa Clara.
Utah’s senior forward Alissa Pili left the game with 7:09 left in the second quarter, falling to the ground after trying to grab a rebound. Nonetheless, the fourth-best women’s basketball player, according to ESPN, had eight points before her departure.
Even before Crisp’s injury, Maroon and Gold dealt with depth problems. Two seniors, guard/forward Maggie Besselink and guard Treasure Hunt, remained absent after missing the Santa Clara game due to injury.
In turn, junior guard Adison Novosel logged more than 30 minutes off the bench. She scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds, which are both career highs for the Saint Francis University transfer. Her behind-the-arc prowess invigorated her teammates on the bench along with the home crowd.
“That feeling is probably the best in the world, just knowing my teammates were excited and happy,” said Novosel, who hit back-to-back triples in the third quarter that cut Utah’s lead to single digits. “I’m obviously upset that we didn’t win, but if we can bottle up that energy and bring it to every game, I know they have my back and I have theirs at the end of the day.”
After having her seven-game double-digit point streak snapped last Friday, sophomore guard Jalyn Brown returned as the Sun Devils’ leader on the attack. She finished the night with 21 points, scoring most of her points in transition.
“We need to run in transition so we can get those easy layups,” Brown said. “A team like that, they don’t like to run in transition. So, for that to be one of their weaknesses, [we] definitely had to emphasize that and run the floor.”
Arizona State (8-6, 0-2 Pac-12) is back in action on Sunday at 12 p.m. MST against the No. 5 Colorado Buffaloes (12-1, 2-0 Pac-12). The matinee will be the Sun Devils’ third matchup against a ranked opponent.
As has been the case this year with many new players, Adair hopes the upcoming battle can be another opportunity for growth within her team.
“I told [my players] it’s January, and we’re getting better in a lot of areas,” Adair said. “I don’t like moral victories, but I wanted to tell them what they did well. Because the more you do well, the more you build.”
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