ASU Classic kicks off with No. 19 ASU vs. Louisiana Tech
The Arizona State Sun Devils (3–2) are kicking off the fourth week of their season, but have only played in Wells Fargo Arena once this year. On Saturday, they finally get to return home.
“We’ve got a really tough schedule. This weekend’s no different,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “These two teams are very good and very well-coached. [They] have very good talent. It’ll be a good test for us. It’s nice to be home.”
The Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters will be ASU’s first opponent this weekend. They come into their first match-up against a ranked team sporting a 4–2 record.
“ I do feel that Louisiana Tech has players that are Pac-12 caliber,” Turner Thorne said. “It’ll be a great challenge for us to guard.”
Kierra Anthony is one of those players. Anthony got the nod as both Conference USA Player of the Week and espnW’s National Player of the Week on Nov. 19 after scoring 50 points against Houston. She followed it up with a 20-point game against Memphis on the road.
Anthony is averaging 22.8 points per game while shooting better than 46% from the field in her team’s first five contests against Division I opponents. Her points are good enough for 13th in the nation. She’s also making a living from the line, where she ranks 32nd in made free throws.
Anthony isn’t alone in producing on the offensive end. Fellow guard Taylor Stahly is also averaging double digits with 14.6 points per game in the team’s five games against Division I competition.
Meanwhile, ASU has relied on a balanced attack this season, with only Kianna Ibis averaging double figures. The senior forward is pacing the Sun Devils with 12.4 points per game. However, each of the nine players in their rotation averages at least five points per game.
With talent like Anthony and Stahly on the other end of the court, Turner Thorne is looking for the opportunity to work on all aspects of the game before wading into the deep Pac-12.
“We need to improve on everything,” she said. “I know that sounds like, ‘Oh, yeah,’ but it’s true. Our team defensively can get a lot better. Our team offensively can get a lot better. We want to get our field goal percentage up. Turnovers down. We can rebound better.”
The Sun Devils rank in the top 30% of Division I in all of those areas, but they will certainly want to improve before playing the likes of Stanford, Oregon, and Oregon State — all of which are Pac-12 teams that national analysts have touted as Final Four contenders.
While fans in the Western U.S. may have known that high-quality women’s basketball was being played in the Pac-12 Conference, much of the national fanbase and media hasn’t rated the league so strongly in the past. Turner Thorne puts that down to exposure.
“It’s always been a great conference,” Turner Thorne said. “The Pac-12 Network has been, and I say this every time I’m asked, has just been huge in terms of the visibility, because the top players and the top teams are actually getting recognized and people know how good we are. In past years, they didn’t. We could reach the NCAAs and they’re like, ‘Wow! Who’s [former Stanford star] Nicole Powell?’ You know, just your top players in the conference. So, I think that’s helped immensely. But I think we just have great coaches who are doing a great job and administrations that care about women’s basketball and are committed to it. I definitely think we’re the best conference in the country, one through twelve. I mean, hands down.
“It’s going to be such a great, brutal Pac-12 season,” she added. “And honestly, this is my 22nd year, and it’s never felt like it’s been easy. Ever. And you always know that there are good coaches and you’ve got to prepare for every team, but it’s probably never been this good.”
The Sun Devils will get a chance to show that they’re a major contributor to the new perception of the Pac-12 when they match up against the Lady Techsters. The game tips off on Saturday, December 1 at 1 p.m. MST/3 p.m. EST. It will be aired on Pac-12 Arizona.
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