SEATTLE – The Arizona State women's basketball team had its run at the Pac-12 Tournament come to an end on Saturday night as No. 16 Stanford captured a 58-46 in the tourney semifinals at KeyArena.
Coming off a 57-51 upset of No. 10 Oregon State on Friday night the Sun Devils were attempting to advance to the championship round of the tournament for the first time since 2007. Ultimately it was not to be as the Sun Devils were unable to dig themselves out of an early hole against a Stanford team that came into the game having won nine of its last 10 games, a stretch that started with a win over ASU on Jan. 12.
Kiara Russell (career-high 12 points/3-5 FGs), Charnea Johnson-Chapman (10 points, 4-6 FGs) and Kianna Ibis (six points, 3-6 FGs) combined to shoot 59 percent while accounting for more than half of ASU's 56 points. Johnson-Chapman added a game-high seven rebounds for the Sun Devils, who outrebounded Stanford 30-28.
"Obviously, we just didn't hit shots. We needed to shoot better. We needed to execute better offensively," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "I'm really proud of the team. We battled, we defended, holding Stanford to 58 points. We got to the free-throw line. We took pretty good care of the ball. We outrebounded them and did a lot of things, but we just had to make a few more shots."
The Sun Devils hit only 31 percent of their shots while Stanford countered by knocking down 43 percent of its attempts. The Cardinal did most of its damage over the first 30 minutes of the game as it hit 49 percent of its shots going into the final quarter. Stanford was especially accurate in the middle quarters as it connected on seven of its eight 3-pointers (7-13) in the second and third frames.
Ibis opened the game by hitting a jumper to put the Devils up 2-0. They would score only one more time in the quarter, a free throw by Sophia Elenga that got ASU within three points, 6-3. The Cardinal would then reel off nine straight points to extend its advantage to 15-3.
Another Stanford run, this one 8-0, put the Cardinal on top 27-7 with 5:35 remaining in the first half.
A 3-pointer by Russell, a free throw by Johnson-Chapman and a jumper by Robbi Ryan got the Sun Devils within 14. The two teams would split the next 10 points and the Sun Devils went to the locker room down 32-18.
ASU would get even closer after Johnson-Chapman opened the second half with a layup, which was followed by a free throw by Ryan a minute later to cut Stanford's lead to 11, 32-21.
ASU would hit another cold spell on the offensive end later in the quarter and the Cardinal would take full advantage as they outscored the Sun Devils 15-3 over the last 6:09 of the period to take a 52-28 lead going into the final frame.
Trailing by 26 in the fourth quarter, hope for a comeback seemingly slim, the Sun Devils fought back and ended the game on a 16-2 run over the last 7:27. Jamie Ruden led the way with five points while Elenga and Johnson-Chapman posted four points each for the Sun Devils, who shot 50 percent over the final 10 minutes while limiting the Cardinal to 25 percent.
"Now we get a break and some well-deserved rest," Turner Thorne said. "We get some much-needed practice time, and people that know our program know that we're going to be ready for March Madness. So I'm excited about that for our team because I know we can really improve a lot with our team offense. We did last year, and had a really good performance in the NCAA Tournament. We'll look forward to doing the same this year."
With a resume that includes wins over Stanford, Cal (twice), Oregon State – ASU snapped OSU's seven-game winning streak, the longest of any team entering the Pac-12 Tournament – and Buffalo, the Sun Devils will now await word on their NCAA Tournament destination when the brackets are unveiled on Monday, March 12 (4 p.m. PT on ESPN). The Sun Devils will be tying the school record for consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances with five after recently tying the school record with consecutive 20-win seasons.
Coming off a 57-51 upset of No. 10 Oregon State on Friday night the Sun Devils were attempting to advance to the championship round of the tournament for the first time since 2007. Ultimately it was not to be as the Sun Devils were unable to dig themselves out of an early hole against a Stanford team that came into the game having won nine of its last 10 games, a stretch that started with a win over ASU on Jan. 12.
Kiara Russell (career-high 12 points/3-5 FGs), Charnea Johnson-Chapman (10 points, 4-6 FGs) and Kianna Ibis (six points, 3-6 FGs) combined to shoot 59 percent while accounting for more than half of ASU's 56 points. Johnson-Chapman added a game-high seven rebounds for the Sun Devils, who outrebounded Stanford 30-28.
"Obviously, we just didn't hit shots. We needed to shoot better. We needed to execute better offensively," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "I'm really proud of the team. We battled, we defended, holding Stanford to 58 points. We got to the free-throw line. We took pretty good care of the ball. We outrebounded them and did a lot of things, but we just had to make a few more shots."
The Sun Devils hit only 31 percent of their shots while Stanford countered by knocking down 43 percent of its attempts. The Cardinal did most of its damage over the first 30 minutes of the game as it hit 49 percent of its shots going into the final quarter. Stanford was especially accurate in the middle quarters as it connected on seven of its eight 3-pointers (7-13) in the second and third frames.
Ibis opened the game by hitting a jumper to put the Devils up 2-0. They would score only one more time in the quarter, a free throw by Sophia Elenga that got ASU within three points, 6-3. The Cardinal would then reel off nine straight points to extend its advantage to 15-3.
Another Stanford run, this one 8-0, put the Cardinal on top 27-7 with 5:35 remaining in the first half.
A 3-pointer by Russell, a free throw by Johnson-Chapman and a jumper by Robbi Ryan got the Sun Devils within 14. The two teams would split the next 10 points and the Sun Devils went to the locker room down 32-18.
ASU would get even closer after Johnson-Chapman opened the second half with a layup, which was followed by a free throw by Ryan a minute later to cut Stanford's lead to 11, 32-21.
ASU would hit another cold spell on the offensive end later in the quarter and the Cardinal would take full advantage as they outscored the Sun Devils 15-3 over the last 6:09 of the period to take a 52-28 lead going into the final frame.
Trailing by 26 in the fourth quarter, hope for a comeback seemingly slim, the Sun Devils fought back and ended the game on a 16-2 run over the last 7:27. Jamie Ruden led the way with five points while Elenga and Johnson-Chapman posted four points each for the Sun Devils, who shot 50 percent over the final 10 minutes while limiting the Cardinal to 25 percent.
"Now we get a break and some well-deserved rest," Turner Thorne said. "We get some much-needed practice time, and people that know our program know that we're going to be ready for March Madness. So I'm excited about that for our team because I know we can really improve a lot with our team offense. We did last year, and had a really good performance in the NCAA Tournament. We'll look forward to doing the same this year."
With a resume that includes wins over Stanford, Cal (twice), Oregon State – ASU snapped OSU's seven-game winning streak, the longest of any team entering the Pac-12 Tournament – and Buffalo, the Sun Devils will now await word on their NCAA Tournament destination when the brackets are unveiled on Monday, March 12 (4 p.m. PT on ESPN). The Sun Devils will be tying the school record for consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances with five after recently tying the school record with consecutive 20-win seasons.