LAS VEGAS – For the second time in a two-week span the No. 19 Arizona State women's basketball team came up just short in its quest to upset a top-five team as it dropped a hard-fought 58-56 decision to No. 5 Louisville at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout on Friday.
Sophia Elenga, who had her first career double-double in ASU's win at Arkansas on Sunday, led ASU's effort on Friday with 13 points and eight rebounds. Elenga (4-5 FGs) and Charnea Johnson-Chapman (eight points, nine rebounds, 4-5 FGs) combined to shoot 8-10 from the floor.
Kianna Ibis had eight points, while Courtney Ekmark, Reili Richardson, Kiara Russell and Robbi Ryan had six points each for the Sun Devils, who had only 13 turnovers for the game and shot 87 percent (13-15) from the line.
With Friday's near miss the Sun Devils have now lost two games against top-five teams by a combined eight points. On Nov. 11 the Sun Devils had fourth-ranked Baylor on the ropes, leading by as many as 14 points in the second quarter, by 11 at the half and entered the final period with a four-point lead before falling 65-59.
"I'm really proud of our effort. I thought physically our effort was great," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "We didn't shoot the ball well and we still put ourselves in position to win the game. Sophia Elenga continues to play amazing. It was a hard-fought game and two great teams playing. Just to know that we're here and we're still getting people healthy and we're going toe-to-toe with these top-five teams in one-possession games feels good."
The Sun Devils (2-2) shot 33 percent for the game. After shooting 45 percent (13-29) in the second and third quarters, the Sun Devils shot only 14 percent over the final 10 minutes.
"We've got to be better and our shooters have to make shots," Turner Thorne said. "They had a little more killer instinct, stepped-up and made a few more plays so credit to them. But credit our team, too. We emptied out and executed our game plan pretty well. We got good looks, we just didn't knock them down. We're continuing to get better which I feel great about."
Defensively, the Sun Devils held the Cardinals 25 points below their scoring average and put the clamps on Louisville's leading scorer Asia Durr, who had 14 points on 5-18 shooting (27.7 percent). Durr came into the contest averaging 25.7 points and had made half of her shots (26-52).
After outscoring the Cardinals (4-0) 14-8 in the third quarter, the Sun Devils took their largest lead of the game after Ryan's two free throws gave ASU a 43-37 lead 18 seconds into the final quarter. Ryan's free throws capped a 12-2 run by the Sun Devils over a stretch of six-plus minutes.
The Cardinals would retaliate with a 12-2 run of their own that put them up by four, 49-45, after Durr's layup with 5:31 remaining.
An exchange of baskets was followed by a stretch of more than three minutes in which neither team was able to score.
Two free throws by Elenga got the Sun Devils back within two, but Louisville scored the next three points to go up by five, 54-49, with under 30 seconds left.
Ibis would respond with three straight makes from the line to once again trim the deficit to two.
Another exchange of free throws ensued before Elenga came up with the third of her career-high-tying three steals. After being fouled Elenga knocked in two free throws to tie the game at 56-56 with 11 seconds left.
Sam Feuhring's layup on the opposite end with three seconds left proved to be the winning points as the Sun Devils were not able to get a look before time ran out.
"I was proud of them," Turner Thorne said. "I was proud of how hard we fought and how connected we stayed. Even at the end, the way we stayed with it. We're just growing, we're getting better."
Although the Sun Devils came up short of pulling off the upsets against Baylor and Louisville, Turner Thorne stressed the experiences from the two games will be more meaningful as the season progresses.
"We have some young players that are so talented and are just going to be playing better and giving us some more minutes," Turner Thorne said. "This is a heck of a lot better than beating somebody by 40 or 30. This is going to help us immensely through the rest of the non-conference season and especially in Pac-12 play."
The Sun Devils close out play at the South Point Shootout on Saturday (3:30 p.m. MT/2:30 p.m. PT) when they face Southern Illinois. The game can be seen via live stream at this link, and can he heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 and at this link.
Sophia Elenga, who had her first career double-double in ASU's win at Arkansas on Sunday, led ASU's effort on Friday with 13 points and eight rebounds. Elenga (4-5 FGs) and Charnea Johnson-Chapman (eight points, nine rebounds, 4-5 FGs) combined to shoot 8-10 from the floor.
Kianna Ibis had eight points, while Courtney Ekmark, Reili Richardson, Kiara Russell and Robbi Ryan had six points each for the Sun Devils, who had only 13 turnovers for the game and shot 87 percent (13-15) from the line.
With Friday's near miss the Sun Devils have now lost two games against top-five teams by a combined eight points. On Nov. 11 the Sun Devils had fourth-ranked Baylor on the ropes, leading by as many as 14 points in the second quarter, by 11 at the half and entered the final period with a four-point lead before falling 65-59.
"I'm really proud of our effort. I thought physically our effort was great," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "We didn't shoot the ball well and we still put ourselves in position to win the game. Sophia Elenga continues to play amazing. It was a hard-fought game and two great teams playing. Just to know that we're here and we're still getting people healthy and we're going toe-to-toe with these top-five teams in one-possession games feels good."
The Sun Devils (2-2) shot 33 percent for the game. After shooting 45 percent (13-29) in the second and third quarters, the Sun Devils shot only 14 percent over the final 10 minutes.
"We've got to be better and our shooters have to make shots," Turner Thorne said. "They had a little more killer instinct, stepped-up and made a few more plays so credit to them. But credit our team, too. We emptied out and executed our game plan pretty well. We got good looks, we just didn't knock them down. We're continuing to get better which I feel great about."
Defensively, the Sun Devils held the Cardinals 25 points below their scoring average and put the clamps on Louisville's leading scorer Asia Durr, who had 14 points on 5-18 shooting (27.7 percent). Durr came into the contest averaging 25.7 points and had made half of her shots (26-52).
After outscoring the Cardinals (4-0) 14-8 in the third quarter, the Sun Devils took their largest lead of the game after Ryan's two free throws gave ASU a 43-37 lead 18 seconds into the final quarter. Ryan's free throws capped a 12-2 run by the Sun Devils over a stretch of six-plus minutes.
The Cardinals would retaliate with a 12-2 run of their own that put them up by four, 49-45, after Durr's layup with 5:31 remaining.
An exchange of baskets was followed by a stretch of more than three minutes in which neither team was able to score.
Two free throws by Elenga got the Sun Devils back within two, but Louisville scored the next three points to go up by five, 54-49, with under 30 seconds left.
Ibis would respond with three straight makes from the line to once again trim the deficit to two.
Another exchange of free throws ensued before Elenga came up with the third of her career-high-tying three steals. After being fouled Elenga knocked in two free throws to tie the game at 56-56 with 11 seconds left.
Sam Feuhring's layup on the opposite end with three seconds left proved to be the winning points as the Sun Devils were not able to get a look before time ran out.
"I was proud of them," Turner Thorne said. "I was proud of how hard we fought and how connected we stayed. Even at the end, the way we stayed with it. We're just growing, we're getting better."
Although the Sun Devils came up short of pulling off the upsets against Baylor and Louisville, Turner Thorne stressed the experiences from the two games will be more meaningful as the season progresses.
"We have some young players that are so talented and are just going to be playing better and giving us some more minutes," Turner Thorne said. "This is a heck of a lot better than beating somebody by 40 or 30. This is going to help us immensely through the rest of the non-conference season and especially in Pac-12 play."
The Sun Devils close out play at the South Point Shootout on Saturday (3:30 p.m. MT/2:30 p.m. PT) when they face Southern Illinois. The game can be seen via live stream at this link, and can he heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 and at this link.