(Tempe, AZ) Arizona State with a new lineup of international players from all corners of the globe came in at (1-2). This is certainly a brand new team from top to bottom with only two players back with experience.
The Red Foxes of Marist College traveled up from Tucson where they got pounded Friday night by the #12 Arizona Wildcats 78-36 which evened their record at (2-2).
The Devils came out the gate fast forcing an early Marist timeout at 6:35 mark of the opening quarter leading 10-2.
Out of the timeout, the Red Foxes went on a 7-3 run to pull within a bucket 13-11.
ASU opened it back at the end of the quarter with free throws and a three pointer to lead 22-11.
Coach Turner- Thorne’s defense held Marist to just for 4-9 shooting and forced 10 turnovers off of 5 steals. Subsequently, ASU went 7-16 and 4-7 from beyond the arc.
The Sun Devils set up in their three quarter court zone trap made the Marist guards work to get the ball over the time line.
The smaller lineup, of the Red Foxes’ held their own early on the boards but ASU’s banging inside produced 10 offensive boards that gave them 14 second chance points.
Sun Devils perimeter shooting continued to be hot from three point land as forward Mael Gilles, guard Jade Loville and guard Sydney Erikstrup were a combined 7-8 from downtown in first half.
The Devils led at the half 48-27 and had more points than they scored the entire game against BYU in a 55-44 loss on November 17th.
Marist had a high shooting percentage (61%) but only to put up 18 shots compared to the Devils 32 shots.
Loville came out in the third quarter still with the hot hand as her three gave Arizona State a 56-33 lead.
Even with the Red Foxes’ 2-3 zone defense, ASU just shot over the top and had 12 three point baskets at the second media timeout with 4:28 left in the third quarter.
With a big lead throughout the contest, Coach Turner-Thorne got a lot of quality time for her bench players which will pay dividends down the road, especially come conference time after the Holidays. The 21 bench points was an added bonus.
At the end of three quarters, the Devils led 69-42, as their torrid three point shooting continued at 13-24.
On the other side of the coin, the ASU defense was high pressure that forced 20 turnovers that yielded 20 points.
A quick Red Foxes timeout a minute into the final quarter validated the pressure that ASU had put on the entre game and the fatigue was starting to show in the legs of the visitors.
A classic example was an errant pass from the Marist post that crossed half court and was lazily chased by Emma Wax when Arizona State’s Jadden Simmons’s fresh legs outran her for a layup and was fouled. She completed the three point play on the ensuing free throw.
ASU just played out the string with five minutes left and their reserves on the floor and won 82-53.
The Suns Devils with their 12 treys, came within one of the team record. Jade Loville lead all scorers with 21 points.
The active defense effort this afternoon on the Red Foxes’ leading scorer Kiara Fisher held her to 1-3 from the field.
According to Coach Turner-Thorne, “we cut the head off the snake.” Fisher was only on the court for 14 minutes. It’s unknown if she was sick or injured.
This effort was a good sign after two consecutive losses and it give ASU some much needed momentum as they head to Mexico for the Cancún Challenge.
They’ll have a tough task ahead with Houston, Baylor and Fordham. The Devils have never beaten either Texas schools and have a cumulative record of 0-4 head to head.
