ASU women's basketball defeated Southern Utah 55-44 on Monday afternoon in Tempe in the team's return from another week off due to multiple postponements.
The Sun Devils' offense was sluggish throughout most of the contest, shooting just 26.9% in the first half and 30.8% in the third quarter. However, the offense finally broke out in the fourth quarter, scoring 19 points on 57.1% shooting in the period to build a comfortable lead.
"I think early on, we just weren't aggressive enough offensively," head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "We squandered quite a few possessions, I thought, with very poor execution or not even getting a shot up at times. So, we got better as the game went on, and that tends to be how we roll. I'd rather start slow and finish strong, than the other way around."
The Sun Devils won despite shooting just 35.8% from the field. Poor shooting has been a trend for the team, and Turner Thorne added its offense is not performing to expected levels.
"We've had a lot of games where, you know, I thought for sure we were going to win by 20 or 25, and we just kind of throw away our lead," Turner Thorne said. "We're just young and we played very young today, offensively especially."
Junior guard Taya Hanson and freshman guard Jaddan Simmons led ASU's offense, finishing with 15 and 13 points, respectively. The 28 combined points from the starting backcourt accounted for over half of the team's points.
Hanson said the team's offense was aided by tightening up its defense in the second half, where it limited Southern Utah to 33.3% shooting from the field and forced nine turnovers.
"I think we stepped it up on our defense come the fourth quarter and second half," Hanson said. "Defense is a huge part of contributing to our offensive flow, and so that was a definite contributor."
Sophomore guard Sydnei Caldwell said the team is now just finding its "flow" after the team suffered multiple layoffs due to games being postponed. "It'll come, so we're just gonna keep grinding until we figure it out," Caldwell said.
Turner Thorne thanked the administrations of ASU and Southern Utah for scheduling the game on short notice after both of ASU's games last Friday and Sunday were postponed due to COVID-19-related developments in both Oregon and Oregon State's programs.
"We exhausted a lot of schools, and we were trying to find ones that were relatively close that could maybe bus in to keep the cost down," Turner Thorne said. "They (Southern Utah) were willing and, I mean, it really worked out well because we really did want to play."
Monday's victory was the Sun Devils' 30th consecutive victory over a non-conference opponent at home.
ASU will play against Washington next at home on Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at ltochter@asu.edu and follow @Leo_Toch on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
Continue supporting student journalism and donate to The State Press today.
