After playing 12 of their first 16 games of the season at Desert Financial Arena, the Arizona State Sun Devils started a stretch on Friday night where seven of their next nine games would be on the road.
That stretch, with all games being against conference foes, started with a loss to the Oregon Ducks 65-53 at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.
The Sun Devils led 16-14 at the end of the first quarter. But the Ducks entered halftime with a 33-29 advantage.
Out of the break, Oregon coach Kelly Graves’ side went on a 16-6 run in the third. The Ducks held their opposition to no points for the first four minutes of the second half. That run helped the Ducks solidify their lead despite the Sun Devils scoring more points in the final 10 minutes.
The 65 points, which helped the team to its first in-conference victory after starting 0-3, was the most scored by the Ducks against a Pac-12 opponent this season.
Oregon dominated Arizona State through its rebounding. The hosts won the board battle 48-27, and 19-5 on the offensive end.
Two players for the victors posted a double-double. Junior center Phillipina Kyei scored 14 points and pulled 14 rebounds in the win. Kyei leads the conference in boards per game. But it was eight fourth-quarter points that helped her reach the mark for the 10th time this season.
Sophomore forward Grace Vanslooten scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. She logged her fifth double-double of the season with the performance. The 2022 McDonald’s All-American led her team in floor time with 36 minutes.
However, sophomore guard Chance Gray led the Ducks in scoring with 22 points, tying her career-high set last year against Washington State.
Elsewhere, the Sun Devils had three sophomores reach double digits. Forward Journey Thompson led the way with 12 points, while guards Jalyn Brown and Trayanna Crisp had 11.
Thompson’s 12 gave the Pennsylvania native her first double-digit performance of 2024. She did so by dominating the high post in the first quarter, scoring 10 points in the opening 10 minutes.
Brown, who scored the most points by a Sun Devil this century with 35 points against Colorado this past Sunday, was stymied early. But she found her groove late, scoring seven in the fourth quarter.
Crisp’s sharpshooting helped her reach double digits for the second consecutive game. This was seen towards the end of the first quarter, where she hit the three-pointer that gave the Sun Devils the lead.
Oregon, who has the lowest three-point percentage in the conference, struggled from behind the arc. The Ducks sunk two triples on 14 attempts, with Gray making both of them.
But Arizona State, who holds the conference’s second-lowest three-point percentage, excelled. The visitors went 7/18 from on triple attempts, as Crisp, Brown, and junior guard Adison Novosel connected from behind the arc.
While the Sun Devils lead the conference in free throw attempts per game, the Ducks had more trips to the line. The hosts made 13 of their 25 free throws, and the visitors made two of three. This was caused by Arizona State’s 21 personal fouls compared to Oregon’s seven.
The Sun Devils (8-8, 0-4 in Pac-12) return to action this Sunday at 1 p.m. when they visit the Oregon State Beavers (13-2, 2-2 in Pac-12), who hold Top 25 aspirations. In their previous trip to Corvallis, Adair’s side picked up their only in-conference win of the season.
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