ASU women suffer latest loss to Stanford

Early in the third quarter on Sunday, Stanford’s Haley Jones got tangled up on a play and lost her shoe. Play continued, but for the next few possessions Jones alternated between playing defense and frantically trying to get her heel back inside her sneaker. As it turned out, that was easily the most dramatic sequence from Arizona State’s 96-64 bludgeoning at the hands of sixth-ranked Stanford, whose starstudded squad had little trouble with the lowly Sun Devils. The loss dropped Arizona State to 0-14 in Pac-12 play and 7-16 overall. Stanford improved to 12-2 and 24-3 overall. Stanford scored 29 points in the first quarter, a number Arizona State did not reach until late in the third quarter. Arizona State coach Natasha Adair said she thought her team did a good job limiting Stanford’s two brightest star— namely Jones, who finished with just two points — but credited the Cardinal for its depth of talent.

“They just keep coming,” Adair said. “I think it was 13 of them tonight and there’s no real drop-off.”

For a while, Stanford seemed capable of exceeding the most points scored against Arizona State in the program’s history, a record already owned by the Cardinal, which scored 113 points on the Sun Devils in 1994.

But the Sun Devils played a cleaner, more aggressive game in the final two quarters. They were outscored by Stanford by just one point in the second half.

“You see the fight and the moments and we just have to continue to build on those moments to where they’re consistent for 40 minutes,” Adair said. “That will come. That’s part of growth, that’s part of coaching, that’s part of teaching to a group that is still getting better.”

Key plays

Stanford was in control throughout the game, so it is hard to say any particular play held special significance. That said, two days after both Adair and guard Tyi Skinner said Arizona State could not allow Stanford’s Hannah Jump to have open 3-point looks, Jump knocked down two 3s early in the first quarter and finished 4 for 8 on 3-point attempts.

“We let Jump get off a little bit early,” Skinner said. “Knowing she was the shooter on the team, so that gave them momentum. We’ve got to be aware, especially if you’re not scoring, you’ve got to get some stops.”

Key performers

Five Stanford players finished with double-digits, with Brink’s performance perhaps the most noteworthy. Though she played just 12 minutes, Brink had 15 points and eight rebounds.

Skinner led the Sun Devils with 23 points, the 12th time this season she scored at least 20 points.

“Her nickname is ‘Showtime,’” Adair said of Skinner. “She is not afraid of the lights or any moment. And she does play with a little chip on her shoulder. Here’s a player that was told she was too little or she couldn’t do this or you can’t play at this level. I think she’s making a statement that she can.”

They said it

“I think every team has the talent, but I think theirs is the depth. They really have no dropoff. You don’t see that across the board everywhere. You see people’s top seven or eight but not 13 or 14. I do think that they are talented. I do think that they work hard and make their open shots. But I think that goes more to their depth vs. comparing them to each team in our league. I think each team has that, but they just don’t have as many.” —Adair on what makes Stanford so tough.

Up next

For the Sun Devils, who remain on track for their worst Pac-12 record in school history and perhaps their first winless conference season, the schedule does not get much easier next weekend when Colorado (Friday) and Utah (Sunday) will visit Tempe.