❚ No. 18 Arizona State women defeat Air Force 87-56 in opener,
Arizona State women’s basketball wants – and probably needs – to run more to be successful this season.
The No. 18 Sun Devils did just that in their opener Tuesday night, especially in the second half of an 87-56 win over Air Force at Desert Financial Arena.
Even without starting guard Robbi Ryan, out with a foot injury, ASU pushed the ball enough for a 22-6 edge in fast break points and 28-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
“I’ve been telling everybody we’re more athletic, we’re going to play faster,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “I was really pleased. It was a great team win. We’ve got a lot of pieces, it’s kind of continuing to put them together.”
Four in double figures
Four players scored 11 to 14 points in ASU’s balanced offense and all 11 that were healthy got in the scorebook.
New starting posts Jamie Ruden and Jayde Van Hyfte combined for 26 points with Van Hyfte scoring all of her in the second half.
Newcomers Sara Bejedi and Ja’Tavia Tapley combined for 23 points. Tapley, a 6-3 grad transfer from USC, also pulled a team-high eight rebounds.
“At halftime we talked about let’s relax, we know what we’ve got to do and we talked about being disciplined,” Ruden said. “That carried over in the second half.”
Freshman Bejedi shines
ASU closed the first quarter on an 11-0 run to lead 22-11.
The Falcons closed within four, 3329, with 3:20 left in the second quarter when ASU went on a 7-0 run to build back up to an 11-point halftime lead, 4029.
The Sun Devils extended their lead to 20 points, 60-40, late in the third and led 67-45 at the end of the quarter.
Late in the third, Tapley rebounded her free-throw miss, leading to a 3-pointer by Bejedi, a freshman from Finland. Early in the fourth, Bejedi fed Van Hyfte for a layup then came up with a steal, ending with a reverse layup by Taya Hanson.
“It’s surreal. Last year I was watching Pac-12 from my TV and now I’m actually here. I was definitely nervous. I’m living the dream. I was just having fun out there. My teammates are great, and I really got a lot of energy from them.”
Tapley close to double-double
ASU led 42-36 in rebounds, an area that will be a work in progress from an undersized team. In addition to Tapley’s eight, Ruden, freshman Eboni Walker and Reili Richardson combined for 16 rebounds.
The Sun Devils shot 54 percent from the floor and were 5-of-13 from 3-point. They had a 56-32 edge in points in the paint.
Freshman guard Kamri Heath led Air Force with 16 points and Emily Conroe had 12 and eight rebounds.
ASU’s three freshmen – Bejedi, Walker and Sydnei Caldwell – combined for 25 points.
In addition to missing Ryan, the Sun Devils were without sophomore guard Jamie Loera, expected to miss 4-6 weeks after having compartment syndrome surgery this week.
Coaching reunion
Turner Thorne was a graduate assistant at Washington from 1988-90 under now Air Force coach Chris Gobrecht.
Gobrecht is in her 40th season as a head coach and fifth with the Falcons. She previously coached in Division I at Cal State Fullerton, Washington, Florida State, USC and Yale.
“Chris is a dear friend, my mentor, I owe her more than I can even articulate,” Turner Thorne said.