First game jitters?
Coach Charli Turner Thorne's explanation for the ASU women's basketball team's sloppy opening 10 minutes of play against San Diego may sound cliche. But what other explanation could there be considering the Sun Devils cruised to a 70-45 win in their home opener after falling behind 17-8 early on?
"We were very uncharacteristic in the beginning," Turner Thorne said. "A little adversity at home isn't a bad thing. To get off to a slow start, and just stay calm and plug away and build a nice lead was good for us."
ASU had difficulty getting the ball inside early on, and often opted to chuck the ball toward the hoop, mostly unsuccessfully. Five turnovers in just more than five minutes didn't help the cause either.
But the clearly more talented Sun Devils never panicked, and began to pick up the pieces in a hurry. After the midway point in the first half, ASU outscored the Toreros by 34 points the rest of the way.
The Sun Devils began the run by finally finding their way to the hoop, drawing shooting fouls on seven occasions before halftime. The team only shot 8-for-15 from the charity stripe in the first half, but the attempts totally turned the game in ASU's favor, as it took a 34-21 advantage into the break.
"Free throws are a dagger to the heart of the other team because it slows their momentum down," said sophomore forward Emily Westerberg. "One of our main goals is being really aggressive and getting to the free-throw line because we know that can change the course of a game."
Westerberg led the team with 17 points, including 13 in the first half. The 6-foot Greenacres, Wash., native scored nine unanswered points between the 5- and 7-minute mark in the opening half to help lift her team out of its hole.
Ironically, the Sun Devils seemed to play their finest ball with arguably their two best players on the bench, as senior guard Kylan Loney and junior center Kristen Kovesdy each picked up two early fouls.
Freshman point guard Reagan Pariseau and junior forward Amy Denson played exceptionally coming off the bench, as Pariseau dished out four assists and Denson scored 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
While Turner Thorne is known for her mass substitutions, even she was pleased with how well the team was able to distribute playing time as ASU continued to run away with the game in the second half. No player was on the floor for more than 21 minutes.
"We have such a deep team this year, we go in for our 2 or 3 minutes, go as hard as you can, and we'll get somebody else," Denson said.
And as always, sticky defense came up big for the Sun Devils, as they forced the Toreros into 31 turnovers.
"I think we stifled them pretty well and we exhausted them pretty well with our defense," Turner Thorne said. "We're nowhere near where we want to be, and yet, I'm happy with where we are at right now."
Reach the reporter at christopher.drexel@asu.edu.
