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WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - 81alum - 12-30-2016

Preliminary:

Arizona State has beaten us both home and away the last two years, and last year it did so with a suffocating defense that led to our worst offensive output in school history.  They have all their key posts back this year (Moos, Dornstauder, and Brunner) and start all three of them now.  They graduated their top guards.  5'10" sophomore Sabrina Haines and 5'11" freshman Reili Richardson have been starting, but Charli always rotates a lot and no one has more than 25 minutes in the game.  They have a 9-2 record by steamrollering lesser opponents, but also beat Kentucky by two.  Maryland, however, beat them by 41.  ASU's hallmark has always been very close, frenetic man defense.  They are holding opponents to 53 ppg on 42% shooting.  That is not quite as good as last year, and they are through the easy part of their schedule.  By the way, our "scouting report" sagging man defense may not look like much, but it is currently #12 in the country, holding opponents to 33% shooting, and puts us way in front of UConn and slightly behind Oregon State and South Carolina.  Tara always seems to get our defense ready, especially for the first game of a weekend series, and so we might anticipate a low scoring day on both sides.

Overview:

We win a very tight game, overcoming ASU's 22-12 offensive rebounding advantage with scoring distributed among 8 players, and 60% three point shooting.  This breaks a two year drought since we won a regular season game against ASU, and is especially impressive coming on the road and without Kaylee.  The announcers said that Kaylee is expected back next week.

Flow of the game

We scored more points in the first half (32) than we did one year ago in the entire miserable game.  Murphy pointed that out to Tara at the half and Tara said "low bar!"  In the first half, the ASU defense was clearly not up to the level it has played the last two years at the perimeter.  They tried to do the same things--they play very close man and cut off passing lanes, making it difficult to pass the ball around the perimeter.  We responded in two ways.  First, Sniezek kept trying to make them pay for the close perimeter defense by taking the open lanes to the basket and she put up a lot of layups--not too accurately unfortunately.  Second, Karlie curled around screens to take passes at the elbow and make mid range jump shots--something we have rarely seen from her.  So we did much better offensively than a year ago.  Last year Tara told the team that ASU's style of defense gives up a lot of layups and that we would have to make them, and we frankly were not making them at the rate we should have.  But we were also helped by Britt and Karlie hitting all their treys.

Defense, however, was another story.  ASU got many more offensive rebounds and had a few of those 3-possessions-in-a-row situations.  Brunner is incredibly accurate anywhere within 10 feet of the basket and she was converting offensive rebounds.  As a result, the game was notched at 32-31 Stanford at half time. 

We had a much better third quarter defensively, holding ASU to 11 points while scoring 16, pulling us to a six point lead.  Offensively it did not start well, with our first field goal not coming until Carrington made a layup at 5:59.  Then Roberson made a trey and Carrington made a trey and we got our lead back.  Layups by McPhee and Fingall and a trey by Karlie got us to a 6 point lead going in to the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter opened with tough defense on both ends, and things did not start heating up until after Alanna stole the ball and took it in for a layup to give us an eight point lead with 4:41 left in the game.  ASU scored four unanswered points on a single possession--a foul with recovery of the second free throw miss, a layup-and-one with a recovery of the missed free throw, and one of the two free throws after yet another foul.  It felt like the lead was dissolving.  After a foul, an ASU free throw, and a Sniezek turnover, the ASU freshman point guard made a layup to cut our lead to 1 point with 1:19 left.  After we made a free throw, we were leading by 2 with 19 second left.

Tara called a play coming out of a timeout to get the ball the Erica for a three point attempt.  Erica was briefly open but Dornstauder clipped her on the arm as Erica was shooting and the refs called a foul.  The ASU crowd booed lustily for the rest of the game, but the replay showed definite contact.  Erica sank her three free throws, Karlie added a couple more, and the game was on ice.

Performances:

This was clearly a team win, not a win led by one or two stars.  We wound up with a major 22-12 deficit in offensive rebounding--or the game would not have been close.  We shot 44% to their 38%, we made 6/10 treys while they made 2/10 treys--so you could call that the difference too, I guess.  Every other stat--assists, turnovers, fouls, blocks--were fairly even.

Karlie led our scoring with 16 points--particularly in the first half.  I can't emphasize enough how unusual it was to see her hitting all those mid range jump shots.  They were beautiful to behold.  She went 6/9, played good defense, and had the usual enormous hustle for 50/50 balls.

Erica was next in scoring with 12 points, but they were very hard earned.  She made only two field goals on 2/6 shooting, but added 8/9 free throws.  It was rough inside.  She also pulled down 11 rebounds to make it the hardest earned double-double of her career.

Fingall started again, and had 8 points on 4/9 shooting.  While she did not have a 100% day as she did against Yale, her ability around the basket just gets more obvious the more she plays.  She collected 3 offensive rebounds and curiously 0 defensive rebounds.  That last statistic bears some watching--she was on Dornstauder a lot and Quinn got 4 offensive rebounds.

McPhee also had 8 points but on 3/11 shooting.  ASU defense is clearly tough and it took a toll on her.  But she had 4 much needed rebounds, 2 assists, and a block--she is an all-around player.

Roberson started but Sniezek seemed to play more and got a lot of positive attention from Mary Murphy.  However, their stats seemed similar.  6 vs. 7 points, 2 vs 3 assists, 3 vs. 3 turnovers.  Anna did not play.  Both seemed to play good defense--they were actually much more experienced than the ASU guards they were guarding.

Alanna played quite a few minutes and contributed 4 blocks and 2 points.  Carrington chipped in 5 points and at a critical juncture.

Conclusion:

The offense was just good enough, but I think our defense is improving as the season goes on.  A very impressive win--certainly the best since Texas and an important one to build confidence. 

In 2015 we lost to lowly Arizona at their place.  We need to avoid that ever happening again.  Let's hope for a great win on Sunday that will give Tara the chance to get Anna into the game.  And then when we return to Maples on Friday we might see Kaylee back.  But for now, we can be happy for a good win that shows much progress by our team.

Re: WBB: Stanford vs. Arizona State 3pm after football - 81alum - 12-30-2016

Game is starting on Pac 12 now.  Just in time after the Sun Bowl win :)

Re: WBB: Stanford 32 Arizona State 31 at half - 81alum - 12-30-2016

We have played a much better first half than a year ago.  In fact, we have scored more points in the first half (32) than we did one year ago in the entire miserable game.  This game has been quite even and competitive.  ASU places very close man and cuts off passing lanes, but this in turn leaves them vulnerable to cuts from the perimeter to the basket.  Sniezek has been trying to make them pay by taking it to the basket six times.  She has one make and a free throw to show for her effort--needs to make those layups. 

Tara tells her teams that against ASU they will have lots of layup opportunities and will have to make them.  So far....so-so. 

Karlie is also doing something interesting.  She is 5/7 but most of those are mid range jumpers.  She is punishing ASU for close perimeter defense by going around them and taking the shorter shots.

We are 3/3 from three point range, or else this game would not be as close as it is.  We need to do better on boxing out to prevent Brunner from O-boarding us to death, we need to make our layups, but otherwise things are going reasonably well.

Re: WBB: Stanford 32 Arizona State 31 at half - CompSci87 - 12-30-2016

Interestingly, it's not that Karlie is dribbling around her defender to get the open midrange, as we've seen before. She's moving without the ball and taking a pass at the elbow on a curl for an open jumper. Nice.

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - 81alum - 12-30-2016

We win, breaking the two year regular season drought against ASU.  Whew.  Quite a call at the end--a foul on Erica while she was shooting a trey, and she sinks all three free throws to raucous boos. 

Nice.

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - TheFarm07 - 12-30-2016

(12-30-2016, 05:59 PM)81alum link Wrote:We win, breaking the two year regular season drought against ASU.  Whew.  Quite a call at the end--a foul on Erica while she was shooting a trey, and she sinks all three free throws to raucous boos. 

Nice.

I was thinking at first it was questionable, but on replay, the ASU player's hand was clearly on Erica's forearm as she was starting her shooting motion.

We hung in tough there despite giving ASU so many second and even third chance opportunities, but our offense scored when necessary. I love the curls for Karlie, she's automatic from that range. I hope that we can do that more often.

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - paloalto - 12-30-2016

I thought the Cardinal looked good.  The team does not have top ten talent.  They have to rely on offensive ball movement and tough, tough defense.  ASU put up a smothering defense in the fourth quarter and the Cardinal weathered it fairly well.

McCall does not seem to be the player she was last year, but she really came through with three foul shots at the end. 

Karlie's mid range jump shots in the first half were a thing of beauty.  If only she could be counted on to repeat it every game.

Would someone tell Turner her hairstyle went out of fashion when the original Charlie's Angels series was cancelled?

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - TheFarm07 - 12-30-2016

Brief digression: UW romped Oregon 99-77 behind Plum's 44 points. We are going to have our work cut out for us when we play the Huskies

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - CompSci87 - 12-30-2016

Let no one say this game was decided by the refs. Refs did a fine job, first using video to reverse a mistaken out of bounds call, then calling the foul on McCall's shot. Both calls were roundly booed by the home crowd but were clearly correct.

Foolish move by the Arizona State center to come out to challenge McCall at the 3-point line with her arm stuck way out. It was a smart, NBA-like play by McCall to take a shot swinging through the arm to create a clear foul.

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - 76lsjumb - 12-30-2016

There are few sounds as sweet as the sound of ASU WBB fans booing...

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - mbdude - 12-30-2016

Good win , tough win . Balanced scoring across the board. Nadia and Alanna played well - Nadia more points but Alanna played really good defense.

Sniezek makes the lazy, obvious  passes and they get stolen, but she was aggressive. Brunner just to strong for McCall  - was glad to see the switch sometimes.

Refs made right calls

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - triangle2 - 12-30-2016

I really think that the team plays better when Karlie looks for her shot. It did, though, seem noticeable that the team still hasn't really figured out who takes the tough shot in crunch time. Sometimes it's McCall, but if not, then the other options haven't yet become clear. McPhee is capable of brilliant shots but also can throw up some awful stuff. I wish they'd move Karlie to the stretch 4 for those situations and let her get the ball at the elbow and be the decision maker.

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - FarmDad.01 - 12-30-2016

What a satisfying win, especially since CTT's teams are coached to play maul ball. Her wholesale substitutions are often compared to hockey line changes. They remind me of Slap Shot and the Hanson Brothers vaulting off the bench. How ironic that at end-game, Bird was (legitimately) brush fouled while attempting a trey and sank the clinching free throws.

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - will - 12-30-2016


Is it too much to expect for McCall to learn how to box out after 3 years plus. Bruner owns her and the PAC all know that she jumps and doesn't box.

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - chimera - 12-30-2016

That was indeed satisfying.  That foul when Bird was shooting was very clearly a foul.  No idea why anyone would doubt that.  ASU rebounds very well due to hard work and positioning but also because they mug whoever gets ahold of the ball and steal it away with the refs allowing it.  Karlie had a superb game.  When a player does what she did - step up and play well in all aspects of the game and be the go to shooter, it lifts the whole team.  Nice minutes inside from Fingall, who I'm sure learned a lot.  Facing ASU for the first time is an eye opener.  I thought Smith played well also, and Carrington made the most of her minutes.  Marta did not make every drive and I think she can finish better, but I liked that she kept at it and made some key ones in the second half. 

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - Spiny_Norman - 12-30-2016

Really good road win especially after last year's miserable effort when Stanford only scored 31 points.  But it seems like Brunner and Dornstauder have been dominating the inside game vs. Stanford for a generation. They are both seniors so I hope we only have to face them once more.

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - will - 12-30-2016

The minutes Fingall is getting will play dividends down the road, baptism by fire for the PAC play, I love it.

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - 81alum - 12-30-2016

Recap done at the top.

Great win!

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - BobK - 12-30-2016

An excellent very hard earned win. 
An experience I had once was seats under the hoop against ASU.  They play very hard.  Yes some fouls aren't called and after years of this it's that ASU plays so hard  that officials are just hesitate to call them too close

It's Mary Murphy the announcer not Melanie lol

I have been to travel games with Geno, Tara and Muffet and CTT walks in and all the father's eyes on her.  Hair do or not 😜😳

This was a brobdingnagian win as we all know.  Clutch play by McCall

Ionescu still hurt for Oregon. Big loss.  But Plum with 44 today. 

Sunday I'm an ASU fan. 🏀🏀

Re: WBB: Stanford 64 Arizona State 57 - IM in OC - 12-30-2016

(12-30-2016, 08:43 PM)BobK link Wrote:Ionescu still hurt for Oregon. Big loss.  But Plum with 44 today. 

Oregon entered the day second in the Pac-12 with 94 made threes, but with guards Sabrina Ionescu and Maite Cazorla sidelined due to injury, the Ducks went just 3-of-5 against UW.

Osahor almost had her 2nd Triple Double of the season 18 points 12 rebounds and 9 assists. She has 65 assists for the season, which has to lead all bigs in WCBB. She leads all D1 players in rebounds with 193(13.8 rpg)

I wonder if Karlie saw her sister play sick last night and said, I better pick it up.