For the first 31 minutes of Saturday’s game against USC, it looked as though the ASU women’s basketball team would cruise to an easy win.
Then a 14-0 run by the Women of Troy (13-7, 5-4 Pac-10) turned the final nine minutes into a dogfight, and the Sun Devils (13-6, 5-4) were forced to hit some key shots down the stretch in order to pull out a 62-61 victory in Los Angeles.
“We definitely made it harder than we needed to,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said in a radio interview. “Talk about stepping up and just finding a way to get it done.”
Senior center Becca Tobin put in a layup to give ASU a two-point lead with 24 seconds left. Tobin then fouled USC junior guard Briana Gilbreath with just 11 seconds on the clock. With a chance to tie the game, Gilbreath only hit one of two free throws, giving the Sun Devils the victory.
Tobin would finish the game with 12 points and five rebounds.
Despite leaving the game early due to injury, redshirt senior guard Dymond Simon led ASU with 13 points and three assists.
USC junior guard Ashley Corral had a game-high 14 points and Gilbreath added 12 points and six rebounds.
ASU’s performance reflects a positive turnaround since Thursday’s game against UCLA. The Sun Devils jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first half and just kept building on it.
ASU’s shooting percentage, which had been in the 30s for three straight games, was 50 percent in the first half and 51.2 percent on the day.
“A lot of players were hot, and we all really just took good shots,” junior forward Kimberly Brandon said. “We took an extra second and we were relaxed and calm and very confident. It was good for us.”
ASU’s defense, which looked strong in the second half of the loss to UCLA, picked up right where it left off, holding USC to just 33.3 percent from the field.
The defense also played a key role in the final moments, Turner Thorne said.
“It was defense against offense in this game, and with four minutes left we said we are the better defensive team, this is our game,” Turner Thorne said.
The Sun Devils took a 12-point lead before halftime and stretched it to 14 two minutes into the second half.
That’s when USC started to make its comeback. Several missed ASU shots and a turnover later, the Women of Troy were suddenly up 56-53. This boiled down to a lapse in concentration, Brandon said.
“We kind of let up in the second half, coming out,” Brandon said. “We could have been way better with our communication, but we picked it up at the end.”
The main reason USC was able to stay within striking distance of ASU was turnovers. The Sun Devils gave the ball up 21 times, resulting in 27 points off turnovers for the Women of Troy.
Even worse for the Sun Devils, Simon ran into a screen at the end of the 14-0 USC run and went down hard, stopping play for several minutes. She was subbed out and wouldn’t return.
After the game, Turner Thorne said a concussion was possible, but nothing was confirmed yet. Hopefully, this week will bring a clearer diagnosis.
The loss of their best player actually seemed to provide a spark for the Sun Devils, and Tobin said the team knew how to react.
“We all knew we had to step up,” Tobin said. “Dymond’s our best ball handler and they were pressing us at the end of the game, so we knew we all just had to help each other out.”
Sophomore guard Deja Mann took over at point guard instead of the usual backup, freshman guard Adrianne Thomas, and hit a crucial three-pointer with four minutes left to tie the game at 56.
“I just felt she had a little more experience and she gave us more offense,” Turner Thorne said. “And sure enough, she stepped up and hit that three. Awesome.”
The win moves ASU into a tie for third place in the conference with USC and Cal, with Cal and Stanford traveling to Tempe next weekend.
Reach the reporter at egrasser@asu.edu
