(Photo: Sun Devil Athletics)
This afternoon the Arizona State Women’s Basketball team will take on a 2-2 Villanova squad in a post Turkey Day matchup in the first round of the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Sun Devils are coming off a close 65-61 victory over Miami in which stud sophomore Sophie Brunner was contained to just four points. Villanova also won their last game against Cal. St Fullerton after dropping their last two matchups. The Wildcats will be looking to get their first win streak of the season going today, and if ASU is to deny them of that, they’ll need to focus on these three keys:
Crash the Boards
This should really be key for every basketball game, as generally the team who dominates the boards will always come out with the win. But it’s still something ASU will need to focus on this afternoon after getting out rebounded by Miami in their last game. The Sun Devils still found a way to pull a win out of that one, but losing the battle on the glass each game isn’t something ASU can afford to do regularly if they hope to get back to March Madness this year. Look for forwards Brunner and Kelsey Moos to take care of this problem and bounce back today with double digit boards against the Wildcats.
Feed the Hot Hand
This is usually a spot reserved for “Get the ball to Sophie Brunner,” but she’s coming off a rough game against Miami where she was only able to tally four points and six boards. She draws a tough card today in a game where she’ll be matchup against senior forward Lauren Burford for most of the day so I anticipate that she’ll be hard pressed to find a lot buckets in this one. So the Sun Devils need to simply go with the hot hand tonight with Brunner being put in a tough situation, and the clear-cut hot hand on this team right now is Katie Hempen. The senior small forward pulled her team to victory against Miami, contributing 17 points while hitting 46% from the field and a solid 37% from behind the arc. When Hempen gets hot she can be dangerous, so look for her lethal shooting stroke to be replayed over and over in this one.
Put a Lid on Lauren Burford
As I mentioned earlier, the 6-foot senior forward for Villanova will be a handful on both ends of the court for Sophie Brunner. She’s not quite as proficient defensively as she is offensively, but she will still bring a tenacious defensive presence. On the other side of the ball, she is the leading scorer for Nova, averaging 11.7 points a game while hitting 36% from three. Burford is coming off a game against Cal St Fullerton where she struggled to score, shooting a mere 2-9 from the field. Burford will be striving to bounce back in this one, and it’ll be up to the combination of Moos, Brunner, and Quinn Dornstauder to shut down the motivated senior down low. Burford averages about 34 minutes a game, so watch for Head Coach Charli Turner- Throne to capitalize on that and try to get fresh legs rotating in to matchup with her over the course of the game.
X-Factor
The pre-season favorite to become the star and leader of this Sun Devil team, senior guard Promise Amukamara has yet to have her “big” game. Amukamara totaled 13 points in ASU’s last two games and is trending upward and she will attempt to create scoring opportunities in transition in this one by locking down on defense and doing what she does best which is forcing turnovers.
Prediction
If this were Men’s Basketball, I would be picking a final score of 86-23 in favor of the Wildcats, but this is the Women’s game and Villanova doesn’t have that same prominence in this realm. If ASU can just play their game by playing fast and creating havoc on the defensive end, they’ll come out with a lofty victory in this one to open up the first round of play in the Gulf Coast Showcase.
