Just moments into the game, graduate student guard Tyi Skinner brought the ball up court for the first time in over a year. She drove hard to the right side of the paint, before she planted her foot and pulled back for a mid-range shot.
Skinner’s bucket was the first of the season, but also her first since March of 2023. She missed all of last season with a knee injury, but showed no signs of limitations as her career-high 30 points led the Sun Devils to a 74-66 win over Jacksonville State. ASU head coach Natasha Adair spoke positively of the woman who made all five of the teams threes.
“So I just think having a dominant player in Tyi, a veteran in Tyi, a leader in Tyi,” Adair said. “I mean every team in the country wants that, but I just think she makes others around her better.”
Skinner was not surprised by her performance but still took it all in.
“It feels great,” Skinner said. “I’m just happy to be in front of the fans and everybody out here supporting us.”
This year, Skinner had two new teammates, junior forward Kennedy Basham and junior guard Jayln Brown. Basham made her return to the state she grew up in when she transferred to ASU this offseason after two years at the University of Oregon. Her impact was immediate as she recorded three blocks in the first five minutes, followed by 10 rebounds in the game.
Skinner’s partner in the backcourt, Jayln Brown, scored the second-most points on the team with nine. This was less than her 17.3 average, which led the Sun Devils last year. Brown’s team isn’t worried about her ability to make an impact, even when she isn’t the lead scorer.
“I think (Brown) was a presence on defense,” Adair said. “I think she was still aggressive on offense. But the beauty of it is just kind of the hot hand…. On any given night, everybody’s a threat.”
Despite the Sun Devils star power, the game was not always in ASU’s favor. The back-and-forth game saw 14 lead changes and 12 tie scores. One reason for ASU’s struggles was foul trouble, which is uncharacteristic of a team led by Adair. ASU led personal fouls 27 to 18 and gave up 29 free throw attempts.
“We say we can never argue the calls,” Adair said. “We can never get frustrated with that. So, we have to hold ourselves accountable, and it’s just the next play.”
Turnovers were also a problem, ASU had 17 compared to the Gamecock’s 11. Adair acknowledged that this is an area the Sun Devils need to improve.
“But for us, we got to make sure we take care of the ball,” Adair said. “17 turnovers is too many.”
The final area for improvement was in second-chance points. In the first half Jacksonville State scored nine of 34 points on such attempts. At halftime Adair vowed to improve this statistic.
“We’re giving them too many second-chance shots,” Adair said. “Look for the defense to turn up in the second half.”
True to her word, the Sun Devils only gave up three second-chance points in the final half.
Another success was their ability to limit the Gamecocks’ 3-point shooting. Despite putting up 28 shots from deep, Jacksonville State only converted on seven of them. Adair knew the path to stopping them was to defend the paint, where Gamecock players drive in order to set up swing passes to beyond the arc.
“So, for us it was talking about containing those lane lines, making sure we keep them out of the middle,” Adair said.
Heading into the fourth quarter ASU trailed by three, and they outscored the opposition 17 to six to take an impressive eight-point win. The difference maker was the Sun Devils shooting at the foul line, as they were perfect on free throws, making all six in the fourth quarter.
Nov. 8th, ASU will try to build on its momentum for the fourth quarter against Jacksonville State when they take on Arkansas State at Desert Financial Area in the Sun Devils second game of the season. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. MST.
Leave a Reply