No. 25 ASU women's basketball kicked off the Pac-12 Tournament with a win on Thursday, cruising past Utah and into the quarterfinals, 72-54, at Key Arena in Seattle.
“It’s always nice to get that first one under your belt,” head coach Charli Turner Thorne said
The Sun Devils avoided the opening day of the tournament in each of the last three years by finishing in the top four of the Pac-12 standings. This year, they had some early work to do.
ASU’s three standouts throughout the victory were sophomore guard Sabrina Haines, senior forward Sophie Brunner and senior center Quinn Dornstauder. Haines led ASU with 12 points, adding four rebounds and two assists. Brunner was close behind with 11 points while Dornstauder finished the game with ten.
The Sun Devils started strong in the first quarter, jumping on the Utes with a quick 8-0 run. Freshman forward Jamie Ruden played her first minutes of basketball since December after being sidelined with a foot injury.
Turner Thorne said Ruden hasn't practiced since she was cleared, but with her and senior guard Kelsey Moos’ return, the Sun Devils are a complete squad.
“We are at full strength right now for the first time since probably November, so it's exciting for us to just continue to build and play better basketball,” Turner Thorne said.
The second quarter found Utah making every effort for a comeback. Between clutch layups and clean three-point shots, Utah found themselves closing in on the early ASU lead.
“I thought we just let up … it was really more about us than them,” Turner Thorne said.
By halftime, ASU’s substantial lead curated in the first quarter dwindled to a mere six-point advantage. The Sun Devils lead Utah 33-27 at the break, shooting 44 percent from the field.
A back-and forth third quarter kept the game in the balance coming out of the locker room. However, ASU’s spark was lit in the fourth quarter, and a determined Sun Devil team found its rhythm to pull away from the Utes.
“This team is incredibly driven and competitive,” Turner Thorne said. “While we are young and have had our injuries this year, we’ve continued to believe in ourselves.”
The Sun Devils scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to send the Utes packing and finish the game with a 72-54 win.
Bring on the Bruins!@SunDevilWBB advances to tomorrow's quarterfinal matchup against @UCLAWBB at 2 PT / 3 MT! pic.twitter.com/Sa1nKmx4Nj
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) March 3, 2017
The Sun Devils will now look to avenge a regular season loss to UCLA in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 2 p.m. PT. The Sun Devils suffered a 55-52 home loss to the Bruins in their final game entering the Pac-12 tournament.
Dornstauder said that if her team eliminates the mental lapses exhibited during its last matchup with UCLA, the Sun Devils should have a different result.
“If we can just clean some of that stuff up," she said, "then I think that we might have a better outcome for ourselves.”
Reach the reporter at kcvalen1@asu.edu or follow @kvalenzuela17 on Twitter.
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