Going into last season, ASU women’s basketball hadn’t beaten Stanford since Feb. 2006.
Last year, the Sun Devils swept them in the regular season for the first time in 31 years. Both games were decided by a single possession.
This year, No. 14 ASU didn’t just beat No. 9 Stanford. It held the Cardinal to its lowest point total ever in a 49-31 victory.
“Our goal is just make you work for what you get,” ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “We’re not going to give you anything easy, and if we don’t give you anything easy for 40 minutes, we like our chances.”
The victory was a result of stingy defense, scrappy offensive rebounding and patience on offense once ASU took the lead.
ASU’s time of possession was about 24 minutes. Stanford’s was closer to 15. Turner Thorne said her team had poise on the court.
“With our leads, I thought our team did a very good job,” she said. “We’d get an offensive rebound, we’d kick it out, we’d make them play defense (and) we’d work them.”
ASU worked the shot clock low, finding open looks. In the first possession of the second half, the clock ticked down to one before junior forward Kelsey Moos received the ball at the top of the arc and made a three.
The Sun Devils’ offensive rebounding also contributed to its time of possession. They had 20 offensive rebounds. Junior forward Sophie Brunner led the team with five, and had 10 total rebounds.
Brunner said that the team who hit first was going to get more rebounds, and Turner Thorne called her a “beast.”
“(She’s) working her tail off and throwing her body all over the place, grabbing rebounds she has no business grabbing.”
Stanford’s average rebound margin is +5.9. ASU outrebounded them by nine.
The third reason ASU ate so much shot clock: Stanford’s defense is just as tough as ASU’s. The referees allowed the teams to play physically, and the teams combined for 31 turnovers.
Brunner said Stanford's defense doesn't allow ball-handlers to attack the paint, making it tough for guards to penetrate and pass the ball out.
"Whenever you drive, there's going to be at least three people collapsing on you," she said.
ASU’s first half set the tone. Stanford went 6:26 without scoring a point in the first quarter. In the second, the Cardinal didn’t make a field goal until 1:02 remained.
All in all, they went through a drought of 15:26 with only one field goal.
“We’re denying passes, we’re putting pressure on the ball, we’re not allowing people to have flow and execute,” Turner Thorne said.
ASU’s help defense was in a constant swirl of motion. Davis attributed the team’s chemistry to its ability to know when to pull off one offensive player to help a teammate on another.
“You can have the system, but if players don’t have the chemistry and just the awareness then it’s not going to work,” she said. “Coach Charli has emphasized this from day one.”
Junior guard Lili Thompson, who averages 16.2 points per game, scored seven on 2-11 shooting. Senior guard Elisha Davis guarded her for most of the game.
Turner Thorne said Davis has allowed the perimeter defense to remain strong after Promise Amukamara graduated.
“Davis is doing a great job as our defensive leader,” she said. “She wants the top assignment.”
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow @Logan_Newsman on Twitter.
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