ASU faces tough test on road
Blue Jays take a 4-game win streak into contest
Following a tough November schedule, Arizona State women’s basketball is slowly coming into its own.
While there is still much to be learned about the younger squad in a veteranheavy league, ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne saw the team’s best rebounding effort all season in the 61 rebounds compiled in last week’s 91-54 victory over Harvard. Forward Mael Gilles, the team’s most consistent rebounder with 8.3 boards per game, racked up 12 in the game. Center Imogen Greenslade tacked on 11 rebounds through 14 minutes on the floor.
“I want to sustain it, but I’m not getting too happy yet. That was the biggest takeaway from the weekend,” Turner Thorne said. “You out-rebound a team by 40, you win by 40.”
Sunday’s date at Creighton (5-2) will put the improvements to the test when ASU faces the red-hot Bluejays. The
Bluejays are riding a four-game win streak that includes wins over South Dakota State and Northern Iowa.
“They’re probably going to be the
hardest team that we’ve guarded yet this year,” Turner Thorne said. “They’re really doing a great job of getting the right shots for the right people.”
ASU enters the matchup with threestraight victories that all came from tournament games. Battling through a taxing schedule, the Sun Devils added veteran forward Jayde Van Hyfte back into the lineup against UTSA, while also returning guards Isadora Sousa and Ayzhiana Basallo in the last five games. The additions have benefited the team as Sousa is emerging as one of the best rebounding guards, while Van Hyfte is a proven force on the boards.
For ASU, guard Jade Loville leads with 12.6 points per game, while Jaddan Simmons averages 9.7 points. As a team, the Sun Devils average 39.6 rebounds per game.
Creighton is headlined by forward Emma Ronsiek’s impressive performance of 14.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, and nine blocks on the season. Guard Tatum Rembao currently averages five assists per game. Morgan Maly (11.9 ppg) and Lauren Jensen (10.4 ppg) also remain in double figures.
“I feel like this is like a Pac-12 game. I look at this team and I’m like, Okay, this is what we need,” Turner Thorne said.
ASU tips off at 12 p.m. MT from Omaha, Nebraska, with the game to be broadcasted at 1440 AM KAZG.