The frustration on Oregon head coach Bev Smith’s face said it all. Just two days earlier her team had played an excellent game, beating Arizona 68-55. But Saturday afternoon, the young Ducks were harassed all game long by a ferocious defensive squad in the Arizona State Sun Devils, and the final score read 81-53, Sun Devils.
“The bottom line from tonight is that we just didn’t have the work ethic or the intensity that you need over 40 minutes to stay close to a team like Arizona State,” Smith said. “This is a huge, huge lesson for us. Defensively we have to be ready to play.”
The pressure was set early by the Sun Devils (10-6 overall, 2-2 Pacific-10 Conference), who took the opening tip-off and hit a three-pointer just six seconds into the game. From there, they got another layup to jump out early 5-0 in the first 30 seconds. Oregon (5-9, 2-2) responded, getting two free throws from freshman Jasmin Holliday, followed by a three-pointer from freshman Amanda Johnson.
Top Performers
Jasmin Holliday: 13 points, 2 rebounds Tatianna Thomas: 8 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, one block |
That was as close as the Ducks would get to Arizona State, however. From 16:48 to 7:12 left in the first half, Oregon scored just six points, while the Sun Devils scored 19.
“Those first seven minutes we didn’t put them on their heels; we were on ours,” Smith said. “That really determined the game. They got points inside the paint, outside shots and turnovers. They took that confidence and used it to put the pedal to the metal on us.”
The reference to a race car is a fitting one, because the Sun Devils looked like a Ferrari. In every aspect of the game they out-worked, out-hustled, and out-matched the Ducks. They forced the home team into 24 turnovers, and their stifling defense held sharpshooter Taylor Lilley to zero points.
Junior guard Micaela Cocks, who finished with eight points and five turnovers, said the physical play forced some costly mistakes from the team.
“We have to do a better job taking care of the ball,” she said. “ASU plays a very tough pressure defense so they do create a few more turnovers, but it’s still way too many turnovers.”
As to why Lilley was held scoreless, Cocks thinks they need to work on getting her more quality shots. She said with the defensive focus usually on Lilley, the Ducks need to get more creative in helping her out.
“We need to be smarter on the offensive end about getting (Lilley) shots. Setting more screens to get her open, and stuff like that,” she said. “We need her to get shots. It’s really important for our team. That means we have her setting screens too, because sometimes it’s the screener that gets open.”
Smith agrees, but said the only way teams won’t key on Lilley is if other team members score.
“Taylor is going to do what she needs to do,” Smith said. “I think it’s up to our other players to step up and take the load off her. When they score more, it releases the defensive pressure on Taylor.”
Either way, even a 20-point game by Lilley wouldn’t have solved the issues Oregon had stopping the deep bench of the Sun Devils. Arizona State had 11 different players score. It had four people in double figures, led by Lauren Lacey’s 19 points, and another player had nine points. The Sun Devils shot 54.1 percent from the field and 64.3 percent in the second half. The Ducks, on the other hand, shot 44.2 percent, but were just 8-24 from the field in the first half.
The assists column also favored the visitor. The Sun Devils had 21 assists on 33 made shots, while Oregon managed just 10 on 23 shots.
Cocks said this comes from Arizona State setting the tone earlier and sharing the ball.
“We let ourselves down with intensity. We’ve gotta use them as a benchmark because they are a better team at this stage,” she said. “We need to see what they do and try and implement that.”
Holliday led the team in scoring with 13 points and two rebounds. Johnson ended with nine points and six rebounds, and Cocks, sophomore Tatianna Thomas and junior Lindsey Saffold all had eight points.
Now the team must move on and get ready to travel north to face Washington on Thursday night, followed by Washington State on Saturday.
“We can’t let this game affect us, and we just have to try and bring the energy back next weekend and try and beat the Washington teams,” Holliday said. “All you can do is try and learn from it and then forget it.”
Smith agrees. She said if her team is to get back on the winning track and not let the 28-point blowout affect its confidence, it must take the positives and then dump the memory.
“This cannot fester,” she said. “This was a lesson, and we need to learn from it.”
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