The Arizona State Sun Devils (1-1) lost their first game of the season 100-96 against Arkansas State (1-1) Friday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena.
A fourth-quarter rally saw ASU come from behind and lead by a point with a minute left, but Arkansas State sophomore guard Crislyn Rose scored five points in the final 40 seconds, denying the Sun Devils their second win in a row.
Five ASU players finished with 10 or more points in the game. Junior guard Jalyn Brown led the Sun Devils in the first half with 17 points, nearly double her tally in Monday’s win against Jacksonville State. Graduate student center Nevaeh Parkinson followed with 18 points and six rebounds.
“It’s not the outcome that we wanted,” ASU coach Natasha Adair said after the game. “There were moments where we were shifting defensively. You can’t trade two pointers for 3-pointers.”
ASU head coach Natasha Adair following the Sun Devils’ loss to Arkansas St., 96-100. pic.twitter.com/MrJqp1kCOE
— Jake Iovine (@jake11_io) November 9, 2024
Despite the defeat, Adair finds many positives to take away in the Sun Devils’ second game of the season.
“We had 72 points in the paint and 48 fast-break points. Those are a lot of really good things,” Adair said. “The defensive side of the ball is something we’re going to focus on.”
ASU ended the first half on a 0-10 run as the Red Wolves took a 55-51 lead going into the break. The Sun Devils made one field goal inside the final three minutes, allowing Arkansas State to lead for the first time since late in the first quarter.
“We were trading baskets when we shouldn’t have,” Adair said. “Momentum started to shift their way, but I thought we did a great job finding [Parkinson] inside, and there’s good things to pull from this.”
3-pointers proved to be a difference in the game as Arkansas State made 13 shots from the 3-point line compared to ASU’s two shots. The Red Wolves sank four 3-pointers in the third quarter, extending to a five-point advantage entering the final ten minutes.
Down by 13 points with six minutes left in the fourth, the Sun Devils rallied back and took the lead with less than a minute remaining following Brown’s layup. Parkinson stood out in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points as ASU held a 96-95 lead.
Rose ended the game with five points in the final 40 seconds to help the Red Wolves to victory. One layup and three free throws were enough to dash ASU’s hopes of a comeback victory.
The Sun Devils gave up 26 more points than in Monday’s win, which Adair wants to see improve throughout the season.
“This is only our second time playing together,” Adair said. “We’re still working at it. I like the 96 points, but I don’t like the 100 [given up], so we can fix the defensive side for sure.”
ASU returns to the court Nov. 14 at Footprint Center for the Hall of Fame College Series, where Adair’s side will face Grand Canyon University (1-1).
Leave a Reply