Trailing by 14 points with 7:34 remaining, the Sun Devils were suddenly within striking distance after Jaddan Simmons’ layup capped a 12-2 Sun Devil surge that cut GCU’s lead to only four points with more than three minutes left to be played.
At that point in the game, the memories of those cheering for the Maroon and Gold likely hearkened back to last year’s game against the Lopes. In that contest, the Sun Devils set a school record for most points in a quarter (35) on their way to wiping out an 11-point fourth quarter deficit and coming away with an 80-72 win.
As it turned out, there would be no encore of that performance. The fire that suddenly fueled ASU’s offense was extinguished by consecutive GCU 3-pointers that once again provided the Lopes with a double-digit lead, 60-50, with 1:48 left.
The Sun Devils pulled within four points one more time after a 3-pointer by Trayanna Crisp, but were never able to make it a one possession game as GCU hit three free throws in the final 26 seconds to claim a 66-59 win.
Simmons (20 points), Crisp (18 points) and Jalyn Brown (16 points) scored all but five of ASU’s points in Friday’s loss.
Statistically, the most telling difference was at the free throw line where GCU scored 18 of its points, making 90 percent of its attempts (18-20). The Sun Devils, who came into the game leading the Pac-12 in FT attempts per game (23.89/15th in the nation) and FTs made per game (15.89/27th in the nation), took only eight attempts (six makes).
“Obviously not the outcome we wanted and we just talked as a team about consistency of effort,” ASU head coach Natasha Adair said. “I felt like defensively we just didn’t have that tenacity today. I felt like there were opportunities, we wanted to limit their paint points, their second chance opportunities and I just thought that in a lot of moments we were just reactive.
“At the end of the day, we tied it up and it was back and forth down the stretch. It felt like they hit some big shots. We had eight free throw attempts, that’s not us. We’re a team that normally gets to the free throw line 20-plus times, so contribute that a little bit to their pressure but just us not being as aggressive as we had been.”
The Lopes came out as the early aggressors, taking a 9-2 lead less than three minutes into the game.
The Sun Devils used a 7-0 run later in the quarter to take their first lead of the contest. Simmons scored on a layup and followed with a 3-pointer and Journey Thompson polished off the scoring spurt with a jumper to give ASU a 12-11 lead with 3:18 remaining.
Naudia Evans’ jumper put GCU back in front, 13-12, and eventually led by as many as five in the final minute. Trayanna Crisp closed the gap to two, 19-17, after knocking down a triple in the closing seconds.
Both teams shot the ball over 50 percent in the first quarter – GCU: 64.3/9-14 and ASU: 54.5/6-11 – a trend that did not carry over into the second frame in which the Lopes connected on 31 percent of their shots (4-13) while the Sun Devils managed 38 percent (6-16).
Brown (8 points) and Simmons (4 points) were the only two Sun Devils who scored in the quarter, but their contributions were enough for ASU to edge GCU in points for the quarter, resulting in a 29-29 tie at the half.
Simmons (4-8 FGs) and Brown (5-9 FGs) had 11 points and combined to shoot 53 percent in the first half.
After carrying much of the offensive load in the first half, Simmons (0-0 FGs) and Brown (0-4 FGs) were both held scoreless in the third quarter. In fact, the only Sun Devil able to generate any scoring was Crisp, who scored all seven of ASU’s points on 3-4 FGs.
GCU went on to outscore ASU 17-7 in the third quarter with the Lopes shooting 42 percent and making all six of their free throws.
Leading 46-36 after three quarters, GCU scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to complete a 17-2 run and go up 50-36 with 8:09 remaining.
The Sun Devils were without Treasure Hunt (illness), who averaged 14.7 ppg and shot 56 percent during a recent three-game stretch.
The Sun Devils return to action when they host Arizona on Sun., Dec. 17 (5 p.m. MST) in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Steve Rodriguez
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