(Photo: Brooke Faber/WCSN)
After narrowly escaping an upset against Arkansas Little Rock, Arizona State will travel to Greensboro, North Carolina on Friday, where they will enter a sweet 16 matchup with the Florida State Seminoles.
FSU has dominated NCAA tournament play after finishing second in their conference tournament to eventual one seed, Notre Dame.
The Seminoles have sparred with some rather underwhelming competition beating opening round opponents Alabama State and Florida Gulf Coast by a combined 60 points.
Florida State’s head ball coach, Sue Semrau, has already been recognized as both the ACC Coach of the Year, and was recently listed as a finalist for the Naismith Trophy, the most prestigious Coach of the Year award in the sport.
If you can’t tell that the Seminoles are well coached based on these accolades, than take a look at what they’ve accomplished in 2015.
FSU put up a 31-4 overall record, as well as an impressive 14-2 mark in the ACC, one of the toughest conference’s in both the women’s and men’s game.
Florida State was also a perfect, 15-0 at home this season, scoring major wins over top 25 teams like Duke and Louisville.
The Seminoles are an extremely athletic squad that looks to put opponents away early, scoring at least 35 first half points in four of their five postseason contests.
The Sun Devils should be able to run with FSU, and match the up and down style of play. But the opening period could be cause for concern for ASU considering their on going struggle to get going early in games.
Over the course of Arizona State’s last six games, they’ve opened the first half with an average of about 24 points. And if you exclude the 41-point outlier against Ohio, it’s more like 20 points per first half.
If the Sun Devils hope to come out with a bid to the Elite Eight, they will not only have to find a quick fix to their first half flops. But they’ll also need to find a way to contain FSU center, Adut Bulgak.
Bulgak is a 6-foot-4 Canadian post presence, (a demographic Arizona State fans should be familiar with), that has taken the ACC by storm this season.
The WCBA Division I Coaches’ All-America Team nominee leads the seventh ranked Seminoles in points per game (12.3), rebounds per game (9.7), blocked shots (54), and double-doubles (12).
Bulgak has dominated the paint this year with her ability to score as well as crash the boards. She is actually just 18 rebounds away from tying the FSU single-season record of 336, and should prove to be a tough challenge for Arizona State’s undersized frontcourt.
Sophie Brunner and Kelsey Moos both undersized at 6-foot-1 can take solace in the fact that Bulgak hasn’t quite been herself since the start of the postseason. As she’s averaged just 8.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game in both the ACC and NCAA tournament.
Much like ASU, Florida State is a team that excels at perimeter defense, holding their opponents to a 28% success rate from behind the arc. Thus forcing teams to drive in and attempt to of through Bulgak to the rim.
Arizona State has been able to accomplish the same, if not a better level of outside defending this year. Holding their opponents to a meager, 25% from three-point land.
That being said, don’t expect too many shots to fall from deep, as players like Brunner, Moos, and Quinn Dornstauder will be asked to protect the rim when Florida State’s athletic wings look to slash to the basket.
These are two teams that seem to share the same philosophies with the up-tempo attacks and ability to take away the three balls. As mentioned before, both teams are also extremely well taught, with Turner-Thorne and Semrau both winning ESPNW Coach of the Year awards at some point in the season.
Arizona State will look to make their first trip to the Elite Eight since making the National Championship in 1981. While the Seminoles will hope to make their second quarterfinals appearance in five years after tasting the Elite Eight in 2010.
