(Bimini, Bahamas) The Sun Devil women’s basketball team led seventh-ranked Notre Dame by three points at the half and was tied with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter before the Irish used a 12-2 run to gain control of the game on its way to an 85-65 win on the final day of the Goombay Splash.
Tyi Skinner (15 points), Jaddan Simmons (14 points) and Trayanna Crisp (11 points) combined for 40 of ASU’s points. Skinner, who was named to the Goombay Division All-Tournament Team of the 2022 Goombay Splash, also paced ASU with a game-high three steals. Meg Newman was perfect from the floor (3-3 FGs) and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
The Sun Devils (6-1), who on Friday became the first Sun Devil WBB squad since 2002-03 to win its first five games of the season, shot 45 percent for the game. ASU’s 10 turnovers on Friday represented the second-straight game they turned the ball over 10 or fewer times after committing a season-low eight miscues in Friday’s win over American.
ASU connected on 52 percent of its shots in the first half, limited Notre Dame to 33 percent and was minus-1 in the battle of the boards against an Irish squad that came into the game sixth in the nation in rebounding margin.
The same statistics were in the Irish’s favor in the second half. Over the last 20 minutes, Notre Dame shot 58 percent (ASU: 38.7) and outrebounded ASU 28-13. Notre Dame’s plus-eight advantage (13-8) on the offensive glass, translated into 14 second chance points.
“At the end of the day, there are some things we’ll go back and we’ll watch film and we’ll continue to work on, but this team has grown leaps and bounds [in six games],” ASU head coach Natasha Adair said. “The one thing we showed is fight. We never quit, from the tip to the final buzzer.
“I thought there were some second-chance opportunities that ignited [Notre Dame]. There were some transition points and that was something we tried to limit. My hat goes off to them. They finished and they made their free throws. I’m just super proud of just how we fought and how we competed. And we continue to talk about growth. We want to be the best team that we can be in March, and this was a good test for us on where we are, and where we need to continue to improve as a team.”
In the first half, contributions came from all over as eight different Sun Devils scored in the first half to help ASU take a 34-31 lead after two quarters.
The Sun Devils trailed by four after one quarter and found themselves in an even bigger hole after the Irish scored six of the first seven points of the second quarter to take a 24-15 lead after Dara Mabrey’s layup with 7:28 remaining.
ASU answered back with six straight points of its own after Crisp (layup), Skinner (jumper) and Newman (layup) scored the games next three baskets to cut Notre Dame’s lead to 24-21.
Another Sun Devil scoring burst later in the quarter, this one an 11-3 run over the last 3:44 of the frame, helped ASU take a 34-31 advantage into the locker room.
The game was played on even for most of the third quarter. The Irish pulled within a single point time and again, but the Sun Devils would answer each time. After Notre Dame finally took the lead, Isadora Sousa answered with a jumper to tie the score at 43-43.
Over the last three-plus minutes of the quarter, the Irish used a game-changing scoring run to take a 10-point lead, 55-45, into the final period.
Down by 17 points, Skinner and Crisp hit a pair of 3-pointer to keep ASU within striking distance, 69-58 with 4:03 remaining. The Sun Devils could get no closer as the Irish closed the game on a 12-3 run.
The Sun Devils complete their stretch of five consecutive games away from home on Wednesday night (7 p.m.) they play at Grand Canyon University.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Steve Rodriguez
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