The season record keeps getting worse for the ASU women's basketball team after its latest loss to Utah in Tempe on Saturday extended the team's losing streak to 11 games.
Utah caught fire from three early and built a seemingly insurmountable double digit lead before ASU could respond. The Utes continued to grow the gap until the final whistle to hand the Sun Devils a 98-62 loss.
The first quarter showed signs the game could have been a back-and-forth shootout. That rang true in the second quarter as the Sun Devils applied pressure to the Utah offense and went on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to seven.
"We made some substitutions to our lineup ... and made them take contested shots or tough twos," ASU head coach Natasha Adair said about the second quarter. "When we were there, they missed, when we did what we were supposed to do and we executed."
Adair also said despite the team having runs like they did in the second quarter, the consistency and ability to sustain those runs are missing.
Just as things started looking up for ASU, Utah again found its footing beyond the arc and ended the first half on a 9-2 run to go into the locker room with a 49-34 lead.
"The way we share the basketball, we were just reading Arizona State's defense really well," Utah senior guard Kennady McQueen said. "If they gapped a screen, we made them pay, and we just kept working the ball around to find the open shooter."
During the break, Utah crafted a plan to pick apart an ASU defense on its heels. The Utes continued a three-point barrage and found reliable backdoor cuts wide open to grow their lead.
"If we can burn teams a couple times on the back doors, then they have to be thinking about that, which opens up three-pointers more," McQueen said.
In future games, the Sun Devil defense needs to pivot to better control the other team's scoring opportunities.
"We just need to make adjustments," said ASU junior guard Makayla Moore. "We know that's what they want to do (shoot threes), so we need to run them off the three-point line."
The Sun Devil offense struggled to keep pace and was no match for Utah's efficient offense. ASU shot a discouraging 34.4% from the floor and 31.3% from three-point territory.
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"Offensively, I think we get into little lulls," Adair said. "I thought we took some good shots and they did not fall, and we weren't getting those second chance opportunities."
Utah finished an astonishing 18-32 from three, good for an impressive 56.3%. Combine the Utes' shooting with their head coach Gavin Petersen's plan to take advantage of back door opportunities, and it is clear the Sun Devils didn't stand a chance.
The Sun Devils still have four more regular season games before their first Big 12 tournament. Up next, the team will host the TCU Horned Frogs at Mullett Arena on Feb. 19 at 6:30 p.m.
"We're not in the locker room saying we're done," Adair said. "We're in the locker room saying we're going to continue to improve and continue to get better."
Edited by Jack Barron, Sophia Braccio and Katrina Michalak.
Reach the reporters at mseal6@asu.edu and follow @masonseal23 on X.
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Mason is a freshman studying sports journalism. This is his second semester with The State Press. He has also worked for Inferno Intel and WCSN.
