Fourth quarter struggles hurt ASU women's basketball in loss at Arizona
TUCSON — Arizona State women’s basketball held a tight game in the first 30 minutes, but the final 10 determined the outcome.
The Wildcats rolled with a slim lineup of seven available players and were without leading scorer Kailyn Gilbert, but raced to a 9-0 start that widened the four-point lead to an unreachable game. ASU couldn’t find its footing and instead fell 63-52 at McKale Center on Sunday.
ASU came in with a promising stretch of two wins in the last three games, but fell apart at the end when Breya Cunningham scored eight points on 4-of-4 shooting. The Sun Devils had previously lost to Arizona 91-52 in Tempe on Dec. 17.
Free throws proved to be a difference maker for ASU as the Sun Devils played an aggressive downhill game and went to the line 19 times. However, they shot 7-for-19 (36.8%) when they normally average 67.6%.
Arizona’s defense, which forces 19.5 turnovers per game, applied significant pressure on ASU and forced 14 turnovers. The Wildcats returned 21 points off turnovers.
“It wasn’t for lack of fight. There were key things like free throws. I’m proud we went 19 times because we say play downhill and attack and it didn’t fall,” head coach Natasha Adair said. “These are things where we’ll go back and we’ll show them where we got the looks we wanted and these were the winning plays. They sped us up a little bit on offense and we took some quick shots, but this is a group that’s growing and battling. I’m proud that we fought from tip to final buzzer.”
Key moments
The third quarter brought in more edge to an already close game with ASU erasing a 5-1 start from Arizona with a 6-0 run on back-to-back 3-pointers from Brown and Isadora Sousa.
The Wildcats posted a dominant stretch of their own when Helena Pueyo broke a scoring drought with a 3-pointer after the timeout at 4:50. The Wildcats then built a 41-35 lead and held ASU without a field goal for three minutes.
Journey Thompson’s four points, including a pickup from Courtney Blakely’s turnover, gave ASU a 7-0 run that tied the game at 41 at 2:14.
Keeping on trend with the pace of the game, Martinez responded quickly and netted a layup to give Arizona a 43-41 lead.
A double technical was called when Jaddan Simmons delivered a huge block on Arizona guard Courtney Blakely at 1:14 in the third.
As the Wildcats surged ahead, the Sun Devils committed three costly turnovers in the last two minutes and trailed 45-41 heading into the fourth quarter.
Top performers
Helena Pueyo caused significant trouble for ASU with three steals and three blocks, while going 2-for-2 on the floor to start the fourth quarter. Pueyo finished with 11 points in 37 minutes.
Esmery Martinez recorded a double-double for Arizona with 18 points and 15 rebounds, including 10 defensive rebounds.
Trayanna Crisp fought through Arizona’s pressure and delivered 15 points on 7-of-16 shooting with five rebounds.
They said it
“It doesn’t get easier in this league being that every night you’re facing opponents that can defend. I bet on our guards and I’m not letting this game deter any other game. We’re going to work on releases and other options. If we make our free throws and limit some of their points in the paint, it’s a different game. I look at us as a team that can play defense too.” — head coach Natasha Adair on facing USC and UCLA next weekend.
“We were trying to get downhill and create for others and for ourselves. Me and Ice (Jalyn Brown) work really well together and I feel like we just tried to do what we could.” — guard Trayanna Crisp on what happened in the second half.
Up next
The Sun Devils (10-12, 2-8 Pac-12) head to the Los Angeles schools for the final time to face two Top-25 schools. ASU plays USC on Friday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. and UCLA on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. Both games will be shown on Pac-12 Networks.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State women's basketball falters in fourth vs. Arizona
