On Sunday at 11:00 AM PST on Pac-12 Networks and Varsity Network radio, #6 Stanford women’s basketball will take on Arizona State on the road in Tempe. Stanford comes in at 23-3 overall and 11-2 in the Pac-12 while Arizona State comes in at 7-15 overall and 0-13 in the Pac-12.
Last time out: On Thursday, Stanford dominated #17 Arizona in Tucson by a final score of 84-60. Haley Jones and Cameron Brink each scored 18 points.
RECAP: #6 Stanford WBB annihilates #17 Arizona
On Arizona State: It’s been a rough season for the Sun Devils as is evident by their 0-13 start in league play. Natasha Adair is in her first year as head coach and is rebuilding this program from the ground up, so struggles were to be expected. Especially with the Pac-12 being such a tough league. They did come close to getting a couple of league wins when the Washington schools came to town. Washington State squeaked out a 61-57 victory over the Sun Devils in Tempe while Washington escaped with a 55-53 win the next game.
Junior guard Tyi Skinner continues to lead the Sun Devils with her 18.8 points per game on 36.3% shooting from the field, 34.9% shooting from 3-point range, and 77.8% shooting from the foul line. She’s doing all she can to keep her team afloat. Junior guard Jaddan Simmons (12.9 points) and junior guard Treasure Hunt (11.7 points) are also scoring in double figures on average. The problem is nobody else after them averages more than 6 points per game. They just don’t have a lot of depth and that’s something Adair is going to need to address on the recruiting trail.
As a team, the Sun Devils average 65.5 points per game on 36.1% shooting from the field, 28.1% shooting from 3-point range, and 72.7% shooting from the foul line. They average 38.0 rebounds, 10.1 assists, 7.0 steals, 3.1 blocks, and 12.5 turnovers per game. They also average a -5.6 rebound margin and a +2.3 turnover margin per game. Their opponents average 72.8 points per game on 43.5% shooting from the field, 33.1% shooting from 3-point range, and 67.3% shooting from the foul line.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is contain Skinner. If they shut her down, it’s going to be really tough for the Sun Devils to generate enough offense.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is come out strong in the first quarter. This is a game where you don’t want it to even be in question after the opening quarter. You wanna take away all belief from your opponent from the opening tip. Ironically, this is especially true if you are facing a bad team because they are so used to losing. If you give them any sense of belief that this day could be different perhaps it will.
Finally, Stanford just needs to play a clean game. Take care of the ball, get good shots, etc. As long as they don’t take Arizona State lightly and they execute, they’ll be fine.
Prediction: Stanford is coming off a dominating win over Arizona. I don’t see how they possibly lose today, but anything is possible I suppose. Stanford 85 Arizona State 62 is how I see this one shaking out. This one could be an even bigger blow out, but I expect Stanford to be playing their reserves for much if not all of the fourth quarter.
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