TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT
ASU’s bench reacts to a late score during the second half against Stanford at Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday in Tempe. The ASU women’s basketball team won its sixth straight game.
No. 25 Arizona State women’s basketball dominated on the boards and frustrated No. 24 Stanford with a zone defense Sunday for a 73-66 win.
Junior center Charnea JohnsonChapman led with 16 points, tying her career high, and nine rebounds as ASU (13-3, 4-0 Pac-12) won its sixth straight game and second straight over a top-25 opponent.
The Sun Devils out-rebounded Stanford 47-24 on the boards and used a 13-4 fourth-quarter run to put away the Cardinal (9-7, 3-1) in front of 3,096 at Wells Fargo Arena.
“The thing that stands out about this team is how they all just taking turns stepping up,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “Kianna (Ibis), Reili Richardson both two fouls early in the game, have to sit a lot of the first and you’re kind of, 'Oh my gosh.' But our core group, they keep taking turns making plays. We got our possessions a little bit differently, and the key to this game was controlling the boards.”
ASU fell behind by 10 points (17-7) in the first quarter and was hampered by leading scorer Kianna Ibis picking up her second foul with 2:16 left in the period. Reili Richardson committed her second foul at 1:59 of the first.
Ibis only played two minutes the rest of the half, but the Sun Devils still put together a 6-0 run to pull even at 22. An 11-0 run over the final 4:02 of the second quarter gave ASU a 35-27 halftime edge.
Kiara Russell had five points and two steals during the run and Johnson-Chapman added four points.
After switching into a zone defense, ASU held Stanford scoreless over the final 4:31 of the half, during which Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer opted not to take a timeout even as the Cardinal lead evaporated.
Johnson-Chapman picks up slack for Ibis
Stanford opened the fourth quarter with two steals and two scores to pull even at 50. ASU answered with six straight points, four by 6-3 JohnsonChapman on feeds from Robbi Ryan and Russell.
ASU led 58-54 when Ryan hit a 3pointer and Ibis put in a follow-up for a nine-point lead with 2:25 remaining.
“They kind of were playing different defense than what I’ve been experiencing,” said Johnson-Chapman, who also scored 16 against Fresno State on Nov. 15. “Them getting me the ball or me getting them the ball, we work together. If some people are having a harder time, everyone just has to step up.”
Ibis finished with nine points after averaging 28 in the previous two games. Richardson scored 11, including 5 of 6 free throws.
ASU struggled from the line, though, hitting just 24 of 39 overall and 10 of 18 in the fourth. The Sun Devils also committed 20 turnovers after averaging 9.3 in their first three Pac-12 games.
“We kind of made enough free throws,” Turner Thorne said. “Last year or year before, we were kind of like that. If we had to make them, we made them all. If we had a margin, we just made enough.”
Russell had a career-high five steals in addition to seven points and three assists.
Zone bothers Stanford
ASU played extensive zone in the final three quarters, which did not go well for Stanford. While in man, Ryan defended well against Stanford scoring leader Brittany McPhee, who finished with 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting.
“It threw them off a little bit,” Turner Thorne said. “I don’t think it was a worldbeater zone, it was OK. It was hard preparing two defenses. We made them a little unsure. The biggest thing is they were killing us in the paint, and the zone really helped to take away that. It forced them to shoot from the perimeter. It was effective because we didn’t get them as many shots in the paint, and that was the goal.”
The Cardinal shot 41.5 percent overall but just 18.8 (3 of 16) percent in the second quarter and 33.3 (8 of 24) percent in the fourth. They were 7-of-24 (29.2 percent) from 3-point range.
Up next
ASU goes back on the road for games against No. 16 Oregon State (11-4, 2-2) on Friday and No. 9 Oregon on Jan. 14. That will make four consecutive games vs. nationally ranked opponents. The Ducks were 14-2 and 3-0 in the Pac-12 and the only unbeaten team in Pac-12 play other than ASU going into a Sunday night game vs. No. 14 UCLA.