Having successfully made a one-day trip to Colorado last week to watch Stanford women’s basketball, three of us decided to try the one-day method again, this time aiming for Arizona on Monday, January 20th.
Going into its game last week with #4 Stanford, Colorado was ranked 17/18 with a season record of 11-2 and a Pac-12 record of 1-1. It had just been beaten at home by Cal 55-57. Although Stanford won its game against the Buffs, it was outscored in the second half, gaining the win only because of a strong start.
Now, a week later, still #4 Stanford was facing Arizona State, ranked 19/24 with a season record of 15-2 and a Pac-12 record of 4-1. The Sun Devils had just beaten California 68-59. ASU was undefeated in Tempe, its only Pac-12 loss having been against Washington State at Pullman.
The name Sun Devils was adopted by student body vote in 1946. ASU’s previous nickname had been Bulldogs and before that—way back in 1889—the Owls. To symbolize a Sun Devil, the same Walt Disney artist who drew the Stanford Indian came up with Sparky as the ASU mascot. There is no historic or official meaning of Sun Devil, but I presume the name is intended to represent playing like the devil under the desert sun. I also presume this was the mind-set of every Sun Devil as the 5 pm game time approached.
The desert sun was low in the west, after a high temperature of 75 degrees, when we entered Wells Fargo Arena on the Arizona State campus. Head coach Charli Turner Thorne, Stanford ’88, as always was fashionably dressed, this time in a black dress and 3-inch heels, ready to apply her distinctive substitution protocol against her alma mater and former coach. ASU is always a challenging opponent and Coach Thorne has been doing well with her 2013-14 team. Having topped #15 Cal, she was ready to raise her sights toward an upset of the Cardinal.
ASU led 6-8 after 5 minutes of the first half, but never again. Stanford led at the half 35-28. The Sun Devils ran out of zip in the second half. Stanford began the half with a 9-0 run and kept going. The final score was 80-56.
Once more Chiney was wondrous to behold, ending with 30 points and 16 rebounds, 3 blocks and 4 of 5 free throws in 30 minutes. When she sat on the bench with two fouls in the first half, Stanford looked like an ordinary team.
Taylor turned into a tiger in this game. She had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 of 3 free throws and a three-pointer. She scored in a variety of ways and was aggressive on offense and defense. Karlie and Lili each had 11 points. In contrast, Amber’s stats barely registered with no points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 2 steals. Mikaela was her usual strong presence, providing her usual glue.
Three-point shots fell off dramatically in this game with the Cardinal making 3 of 6, a nice 50% ratio, but only from a few attempts. But it didn’t matter. Stanford chose another course in Tempe. Bonnie and Karlie made one three each. Free throws were a very nice 15 of 20 or 75%.
This was a fine and decisive win, more so than the win over Colorado. ASU beat Cal, Colorado did not. Colorado outscored Stanford in the second half, ASU did not. The result of four road games in consecutive weekends was Stanford 4, opponents 0. Stanford remains the only undefeated team in Pac-12 play. Chiney rolled on in all four games with various teammates stepping up to help clinch each win.
Official attendance was 2,400 at Wells Fargo Arena, not like the good old days in Tempe, but Sun Devil fans were loud in support for their team and created an impressive sense of hostility. However, the nice girls from Stanford were unfazed.
I want to end this report with another shout out to Taylor. This was her finest game, even if she may have scored more points in other games. Never has she shown more energy, assertiveness and variety in her play. She truly was a tiger. She contributed to the win through her own actions and as an inspiration to her teammates.
This was a solid and important win.
