ASU looks to build on its momentum; take on Washington schools this weekend
After its historic weekend of upsets, the now No. 18 Arizona State women’s basketball team (13-4, 3-2 Pac-12) is hoping to avoid letdowns against the Washington schools this week.
The road trip begins with Washington on Friday at 8 p.m. MST before continuing Sunday with Wazzu at 1 p.m. MST.
Last season
Last year, the Washington versus ASU game was unable to be played due to concerns about travel safety due to weather. The Sun Devils were able to make it to Pullman to face the Cougars and won 61-46.
Taking a look at the Huskies
Washington (10-5, 2-2 Pac-12) comes into its matchup with the Sun Devils following a 66-59 loss to rival Washington State last week.
The Huskies, led by head coach Jody Wynn (28-49 in three seasons at Washington), feature one of the best players in the Pac-12 in senior guard Amber Melgoza along with a solid supporting cast.
Melgoza is averaging 14.9 points per game and a career-high 5.3 rebounds per game. She has upped her field goal percentage from 38.9 percent last year to a career-high 44.3 percent this season.
Melgoza is not the only Washington player making an impact this year. Junior guard Missy Peterson leads the team in both assists (47) and three-point percentage (42.4). Her three-point percentage ranks No. 8 in the Pac-12. She made waves last season when she hit a game-winning three-pointer in the Pac-12 tournament to complete the Huskies’ upset of Oregon State.
As a team, the Huskies do not shoot the ball well as they have a 39.2 percent field-goal percentage and a 29.8 percent three-point percentage as a team on the season. However, they hold opponents to 36.6 percent from the field and 28.3 percent from three.
“Washington is good,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “…I fear teams that play hard more than I fear teams with talent. And I don't know if there's any team that we've played this year that plays harder than them. So they're good. They have one of the best scorers in the conference. They play really hard. …They do a lot of different presses and different stuff…”
Taking a look at Wazzu
Washington State (9-7, 2-2 Pac-12 ) comes into the weekend riding a two-game winning streak with the win against Washington as well as a 96-75 drubbing of Cal on Jan. 5. The Cougars shot 61.9 percent from the field in the win over the Golden Bears as well as 50 percent from three.
Washington State, led by head coach Kamie Ethridge (18-28 in two seasons at Wazzu) did not only shine offensively against Cal.
The Cougars scored 85 points against Pepperdine on Nov. 5, 80 points against Boise State on Nov. 20, 85 points in a blowout win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 15 and 87 points to beat UC Irvine on Dec. 15.
While they did not score nearly as high in the game, the Cougars did face off with current No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 29, holding the Gamecocks to 68 points and only lost by 15, 68-53.
Washington State features two excellent scorers. Forward Borislava Hristova ranks No. 2 in the Pac-12 in points per game, averaging 19.2 PPG. The redshirt-senior is also averaging 6.1 RPG.
Senior Chanelle Molina is No. 2 on the team with 16.2 PPG. Despite being just 5’9, she leads the Cougars with 6.3 RPG. She also leads the team in field-goal percentage (48.3), three-point field goals (39) and assists per game (4.3).
As a team, Washington State is No. 3 in the Pac-12 in three-point percentage (35.7).
Turner Thorne said she does not think her team will come out flat following the upsets.
“…I don’t think that’s…who we are,” Turner Thorne stated.
Senior forward and reigning Pac-12 player of the week Ja’Tavia Tapley said the week has been exciting but said the team needs to stay focused.
“It's been great,” Tapley said. We're able to now see each other as one. And believe that we can continue to play the games that we played just like…against Oregon, Oregon State... So that's been very exciting. We've been communicating more, coming together more, just playing harder for each other…Just playing as hard as we can together. And knowing that we can beat any team as long as we stay focused and play as hard as we played. We played those two top teams and knowing that we can beat anyone, anyone can beat us as well. So we’ve got to keep our focus and just focus on continuing to play as hard as we have been playing.”
