ASU WBB: ASU Upsets No. 15 Kentucky
ASU was able to earn their second straight victory over a ranked opponent, this time using overtime to defeat the Kentucky Wildcats 73-71.
Both teams opened up the game with a sluggish start and lazy shooting, keeping it very low scoring early on. Kentucky was able to get on the board first after forcing a turnover against ASU in the paint.
The Devils struggled to hang on to the ball in the first quarter as UK forced six turnovers from them, capitalizing off most of the turnovers creating a nice margin between themselves and the Sun Devils.
Quinn Dornstauder hasn’t made her presence well known in the game as she missed her only shot taken for the game. Kelsey Moos has yet to take a shot in this game, but has made four key defensive rebounds to help the Sun Devils.
Kentucky was able to pull away and settle into their game towards the end of the quarter and stretched their lead to five over ASU, entering the second quarter with a score of 15-10.
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Coming into the second quarter, the Sun Devils continued pressing hard to try and find their groove against Kentucky. Freshman Robbi Ryan stepped up to shorten the Cats lead and pick up the pace of the ASU offense.
Reili Richardson didn’t have her usual hot hand when it came to shooting, but provided a lot of aggression on the squad’s offensive drives. Moos was able to continue her contributions on rebounding for the team, having six rebounds both offensively and defensively for the half.
The Devils were able to improve their field goal percentage between the quarters, but were only able to sink 31 percent of them, in total, between the two. Comparing this to Kentucky shooting 43 percent in the first half leaves no surprise that the Cats led by 7 points for a majority of the first two quarters.
ASU was able to recover from their sloppy start, but their nine turnovers contributed to 10 of Kentucky’s points. 18 of UK’s points were in the paint which was a concern for the Sun Devils heading into the second half.
Sophie Brunner opened up the third quarter, sinking her first field goal attempt of the game and jump starting her team.
The beginning of the third was a lot of back and forth between the two teams as ASU is able to finally drain more of their field goal attempts and outscored UK 16-9 to start the quarter. ASU improved their field goal percentage to 46 percent.
Brunner finished the quarter scoring the last four points and the Devils trailed by four heading into the fourth quarter.
A heated fourth quarter made the intensity seen in the third quarter look like sloths were on the court. Kentucky had improved their lead, but couldn’t hold it for long as the ASU seniors fought to make it a close game.
Maci Morris for UK was the star of the offense with 25 points in the game and was a huge threat to the Devils and their defense.
With a final push in the last stretch of the game, the Sun Devils are able to finish with a tie, 61-61, to force overtime.
The first possession in overtime went to Kentucky, a foul against Sabrina Haines made her foul out for the remainder of the game.
The two teams did not disappoint as the back and forth game continued in overtime, coming down to the wire in the final minute of the game.
Brunner was hot in the fourth quarter and followed through in OT after a missed foul call sent her to the ground, she was able to throw up her shot and sink it to put ASU ahead by two with five seconds left in the game. UK was unable to answer the shot and was upset on their home court by the Sun Devils, 73-71.
This was a crucial game for the Devils and they were able to pull through. The freshmen of the team found their groove and were able to support the seniors leading the court to perform the best the team has done all season.
Coming from this win, ASU has a more promising season ahead of them. Some areas of concern for the Devils comes down to the amount of turnovers they give up to their opposition as this is a major concern that costs them points in the end. If the team can make adjustments to fix this as well as getting off to a stronger start at the beginning of the game, they pose to be one of the biggest threats in the Pac-12 this season.
Up next for the Sun Devils is Middle Tennessee on Tuesday to finish up their east coast road trip.