Head coach Charli Turner Thorne and Janae Fulcher both agree that the game against Washington State University was at best a learning experience for the young team. The Lady Devils fell to the Cougars 43-54 at home on Friday night, falling to 3-6 in conference play.
The Sun Devils, having already lost to Washington State once this season, were hoping to even the score with a win.
“We knew going into the game what to expect,” Fulcher remarked. But despite the practices tailored specifically to combat Washington State University, the Lady Devils could not keep up with the Cougars offensively or defensively.
The Sun Devils played sloppy throughout the game. They were outrebounded and outshot by the Cougars who dominated throughout.
ASU could not seem to box out, causing its rebounding to suffer significantly throughout the game. The Lady Devils were outrebounded by the Cougars 46 to 35.
The Sun Devils also struggled when it came to sinking their shots. Arizona State finished the game with a shooting percentage of only 25.9 percent. In the second half, the Devils only made 18.8 percent of their shots as opposed to Washington State University’s 46.2 percent in the second half.
“We’ve got to be better offensively consistently,” Coach Turner Thorne said.
Turnovers, as always, gave the Lady Devils trouble as well.
“Turnovers really killed us,” Turner Thorne said in response to the 22 turnovers posted by the Sun Devils.
Freshman Lia Galdeira led the way for the Cougars with 20 points and eight rebounds. She even earned praises from coach Turner Thorne on her amazing performance in the match-up.
Despite the poor performance by the Lady Devils, Arnecia Hawkins had one of the best games of her career. Hawkins made 18 points for the Devils including four three-pointers. Although she played well, Hawkins commented that she was “not really happy” with the teams performance.
The Lady Devils look to get back on the right track with a win over Washington on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Wells Fargo Arena.
