(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
With a short bench in a hostile environment, ASU women’s basketball trailed No. 8 Oregon by just four points at the half on Sunday night with a chance to possibly upset one of the top teams in the country on its home floor.
Then disaster struck.
Oregon went on an 18-0 run and ASU turned the ball over four straight times to begin the second half. In the end, the Sun Devils could never recover en route to a 74-64 Oregon victory.
“I don’t know what we were doing. We were just standing, staring at the post and forcing passes that weren’t even open,” ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “I mean it was just bizarre. Four turnovers in a row…not the way you can start against a top-10 team on their home floor.”
On Sunday night, ASU was left with a nine-player bench after sophomore forward Jamie Ruden suffered a concussion in ASU’s last game against No. 22 Oregon State.
The sophomore sharpshooter was missed on Sunday against a potent Oregon offensive attack that averages nearly 90 points per game.
ASU has already lost junior guard Sabrina Haines for the season with a torn ACL, and the absence of Ruden against the Ducks can only leave ASU fans wondering what the Sun Devils could have done with a full batallion.
“Jamie Ruden changes the game. She’s a five (position) player that’s the best shooter on the floor at any point when she’s in the game, and she just changes the game,” Turner Thorne said. “People have to do different things with her out there.”
Nevertheless, ASU was forced to pick up the offensive slack with other weapons, and the Sun Devils did so in the first half.
After trailing by as many as 13 points, ASU cut into the Oregon lead thanks to junior forward Kiana Ibis and redshirt junior Courtney Ekmark, who spurred a comeback to end the half.
Ibis finished the game with 22 points while Ekmark ended the game with 15, but the Ducks were able to make adjustments at the half, and they swarmed the duo to begin the final 20 minutes of play.
As for Oregon’s offensive prowess, the Ducks flexed their muscles in the second half and proved why they are one of the toughest teams to guard in the country.
Oregon sophomore guard Sabrina Ionescu was the ESPNW freshman of the year last season and has continued her rampant tear through the Pac-12 this season, averaging 19.2 points per game to lead the Ducks in scoring.
On Sunday night, the sophomore was as good as advertised, dropping 26 points, six rebounds and five assists while shooting 11-of-15 from the field in an electric performance.
Among others, sophomore forward Ruthy Hebard had 20 points on 9-9 shooting, and the Ducks had four players in double figures.
Despite an Oregon lead that was pushed out to as many as 20 points in the second half, ASU showed its character and never stopped playing. The Sun Devils finished the game on a 12-1 run over the last 2:45 in the fourth quarter.
“I like the fight of the group that we had out there in the fourth quarter,” Turner Thorne said. “I loved it a lot and just battling…to shape up the score there at the end.”
Nevertheless, the game served as yet another measuring stick game against a worthy opponent. All five of ASU’s losses have come against teams ranked within the AP top-25, and those losses have come down to one scoring run or one quarter where the Sun Devils had a small lapse that cost them.
Overall, Sunday’s game in Eugene is a game that can be a lesson and something to grow from against a high-caliber adversary, and ASU will get another crack at the Ducks when they come to Tempe on Feb. 23.
Until that time, ASU has other matters to attend to, including two games with Colorado and Utah this upcoming weekend.
“We got to do a little soul searching right now. We did not play hard enough. These are young players that have to know how to play hard every possession in this conference,” Turner Thorne said. “This is the best conference in the country.”
Tipoff between No. 22 ASU and Utah is set for Friday, Jan. 19 at 11 a.m. MST.
