(Tempe, AZ) An unusually early meeting in mid December eight days before Christmas as these two rivals tip it off at Desert Financial Arena today for their PAC-12 opener.
Both Schools come in with identical records of 7-3. Normally you’d think that the Arizona Wildcats would have the better Strength of Schedule with their high profile program, but its quite the opposite this year.
ASU IS ranked 22nd (SOS) with their opponents having a .618 winning percentage.
Subsequently, Arizona is ranked 37th (SOS) with their opponents coming in with a .595 winning percentage.
Today’s game is also counts in the Territorial Cup standings.
The Sun Devils were coming off a bitter loss 66-59 to crosstown rival Grand Canyon two days ago.
The Wildcats were coming off a loss to Texas 88-75 at home last Wednesday.
Coach Natasha Adair in her second season has yet to beat Arizona, but with Arizona a few levels down from their National Championship loss to Stanford, may present the opportunity to notch her first win.
Coach Adia Barnes lost a key player yesterday when Maya Nnaji left the team to concentrate on academics, leaving the Wildcats with only ten players.
Both teams came out fast but after two minutes of back and forth ball, it was just 3-2 ASU.
At the TV timeout, the Sun Devils still held a one point lead 9-8 with just under five minutes left in the opening quarter.
Arizona pulled ahead at the end of the quarter 17-10 at the two minute mark.
Free throws kept ASU in the game hitting 5-8. The Devils were having difficulties finding the basket, as they only shot 36% from the field compared to Arizona with a sizzling 71%.
Arizona up by eight 24-16 at the end of the first quarter.
The shooting struggles continued for the Devils as they were out of sync trying to go one on one against the Arizona defense with only one assist midway through the second quarter.
The Wildcats were 83% from beyond the arc which was the biggest reason they were up 33-18 at the second TV time out at the 6:26 mark.
Arizona kept the peddle down and went up by twenty 38-18 thanks to a three pointer by Helena Pueyo.
The Wildcats continued to play team ball, working the ball around the court really not having to play stellar defense due to Arizona State lack of ball movement.
This was a far contrast to the team oriented play that the Sun Devils had shown up to this point in the season.
Trayanna Crisp led the Devils with 8 points on 4-8 shooting but there was little help from her teammates as ASU looked like it still had the GCU hangover and trailed 52-24.
Arizona outscored the Sun Devils 28-8 in the second quarter and thats when the game got totally out of hand.
The Cats came out of the locker room and pounded the ball down low for high percentage shots, while Arizona State continued to play one or two on five.
Arizona was still shooting 69% from the field and it didn’t matter inside or outside, the balls were dropping for the Wildcats.
ASU finally reached 30 points on the scoreboard at 3:46 mark of the third quarter. Shooting 1-8 from three point land wont win you many games as the outside shot had been totally absent in this game.
In the second half of the third quarter, ASU’s defense came to life and forced Arizona without a field goal for the final seven minutes of the third quarter.
The highlgiht of the third quarter for the Devils was a steal and coast to coast layup by Jalyn Brown in the quarter’s final minute.
Arizona still with their starters in at the fourth quarter TV time out and were in their three quarter court press.
Playing their arch-rivals, they took the opportunity to make a big statement at the onset of the conference season.
With 4:23 left in the game, the Cats had doubled the Devils 82-41. ASU had but 3 assists to that point in the entire game.
This game showed the difference in the two programs. Arizona played team ball and got everyone on the court involved. The Sun Devils played playground ball with no continuity and the 91-52 final score confirmed that.
Jalyn Brown finished with a 19 point 8 rebound performance, but considering she had almost half of the Sun Devil points and not much help otherwise.
Arizona’s bench outsourced the Devils 30-8, but the stat that told it all was the fact that Arizona State finished the game with just 4 assists to the Wildcats 24.
Up next is the Jerry Colangelo Hall of Fame Classic at the Footprint Center on December 20th where the Devils will face Fresno State.
At the same event, Arizona will square off against Gonzaga.
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