TEMPE – The Sun Devil women's basketball team had early success but ultimately was not able to sustain it in an 80-50 loss to No. 6 Stanford on Friday night.
Jalyn Brown (17 points) and Trayanna Crisp (16 points, game-high four steals) were ASU's main sources of offense as the duo combined for 33 points. Journey Thompson pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds, coming one board short of the single-game high by a Sun Devil this season (Kadidia Toure 14 rebounds vs. San Francisco on Nov. 13).
The Cardinal shot 48 percent and was led by Kiki Iriafen (27 points, 14 rebounds) and Cameron Brink (20 points, 16 rebounds).
The Sun Devils had only 10 turnovers, the eighth time in the last 12 games it has had 11 or fewer turnovers.
"I thought we started the game strong. I thought we were in attack mode offensively," ASU head coach Natasha Adair said. "Then I thought we let our foot off the gas in some areas. We knew coming in the key was limiting those paint touches. (Stanford Forward Kiki Iriafen) and (Stanford Center Cameron Brink) do a phenomenal job inside. They're second-chance opportunities. So, we were fronting the post, bringing really good ball pressure. But there were moments in the game where we've got to knock down those shots.
"I felt like we fought. Now was it 40 full minutes? No. Against any team, but this particular team, the margin for error is pretty much zero. When you get around the rim, you've got to finish. Was I proud that we executed the shots that we wanted? Yes, but we've got to knock them down. You can't give them second and third chances on one shot. And we didn't get those same chances on our one shot. So those are just areas where we will continue to improve. But it's not for a lack of fight and for a lack of toughness in our group. We told them we are going to take what we liked, take what we learned, and get ready for our game on Sunday."
Stanford put the ball in the hands of Brink early and often and the senior forward delivered with 12 first quarter points to help give the Cardinal a 21-17 lead after 10 minutes.
While more than half of Stanford's offense came from one player, a host of players contributed to ASU's first quarter success. Brown (seven points), Thompson (four points), Jaddan Simmons (three points) and Mallory Miller (three points) all scored in the first quarter. Simmons also had four assists with zero turnovers while Crisp was responsible for a pair of steals.
The Sun Devils had only one turnover in the first quarter while the Cardinal committed five mistakes which ASU was able to convert into five points.
The Cardinal turned it up a notch on both ends of the floor in the second quarter. It made 50 percent of its FGs (6-12), allowed the Sun Devils to make only one of 16 shots and outscored the Sun Devils 16-6 to take a 37-23 lead at the half.
Crisp (five points) and Simmons (two points) helped the Sun Devils chop Stanford's lead to single digits (39-30) in the first 91 seconds of the third quarter.
That was as close as the Sun Devils could get as Stanford responded with a 14-5 run to double its lead to 18, 53-35, with 4:14 left in the third quarter.
Up next for the Sun Devils is Cal on Sunday (12 p.m. MST) at Desert Financial Arena. Click here to purchase tickets in advance of Sunday's game.
Jalyn Brown (17 points) and Trayanna Crisp (16 points, game-high four steals) were ASU's main sources of offense as the duo combined for 33 points. Journey Thompson pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds, coming one board short of the single-game high by a Sun Devil this season (Kadidia Toure 14 rebounds vs. San Francisco on Nov. 13).
The Cardinal shot 48 percent and was led by Kiki Iriafen (27 points, 14 rebounds) and Cameron Brink (20 points, 16 rebounds).
The Sun Devils had only 10 turnovers, the eighth time in the last 12 games it has had 11 or fewer turnovers.
"I thought we started the game strong. I thought we were in attack mode offensively," ASU head coach Natasha Adair said. "Then I thought we let our foot off the gas in some areas. We knew coming in the key was limiting those paint touches. (Stanford Forward Kiki Iriafen) and (Stanford Center Cameron Brink) do a phenomenal job inside. They're second-chance opportunities. So, we were fronting the post, bringing really good ball pressure. But there were moments in the game where we've got to knock down those shots.
"I felt like we fought. Now was it 40 full minutes? No. Against any team, but this particular team, the margin for error is pretty much zero. When you get around the rim, you've got to finish. Was I proud that we executed the shots that we wanted? Yes, but we've got to knock them down. You can't give them second and third chances on one shot. And we didn't get those same chances on our one shot. So those are just areas where we will continue to improve. But it's not for a lack of fight and for a lack of toughness in our group. We told them we are going to take what we liked, take what we learned, and get ready for our game on Sunday."
Stanford put the ball in the hands of Brink early and often and the senior forward delivered with 12 first quarter points to help give the Cardinal a 21-17 lead after 10 minutes.
While more than half of Stanford's offense came from one player, a host of players contributed to ASU's first quarter success. Brown (seven points), Thompson (four points), Jaddan Simmons (three points) and Mallory Miller (three points) all scored in the first quarter. Simmons also had four assists with zero turnovers while Crisp was responsible for a pair of steals.
The Sun Devils had only one turnover in the first quarter while the Cardinal committed five mistakes which ASU was able to convert into five points.
The Cardinal turned it up a notch on both ends of the floor in the second quarter. It made 50 percent of its FGs (6-12), allowed the Sun Devils to make only one of 16 shots and outscored the Sun Devils 16-6 to take a 37-23 lead at the half.
Crisp (five points) and Simmons (two points) helped the Sun Devils chop Stanford's lead to single digits (39-30) in the first 91 seconds of the third quarter.
That was as close as the Sun Devils could get as Stanford responded with a 14-5 run to double its lead to 18, 53-35, with 4:14 left in the third quarter.
Up next for the Sun Devils is Cal on Sunday (12 p.m. MST) at Desert Financial Arena. Click here to purchase tickets in advance of Sunday's game.