ASU women seek first sweep of Stanford in 21 years

by Paola Boivin
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Eds: A previous version of this story said ASU was seeking their first-ever sweep of Stanford.  The version below includes a new headline and a rewrite of the 11th graf. The story below has been revised to reflect the correct information. Clients who used this story are asked to use the correction that can be found here.

By CHRIS CARAVEO
Cronkite News

TEMPE – When Arizona State played Stanford in January, the Sun Devils held on in the second half and won after building a 17-point lead in the first.

In Friday’s Pac-12 rematch between two Top 25 teams, taking a break won’t be an option.

That’s because the Sun Devils won their first game at Maples Pavilion since March 3, 1984 last month, one season before ASU Coach Charlie Turner Thorne attended and played at Stanford.

Now the 12th-ranked Cardinal (17-5) will look to even the season series by upsetting 10th-ranked ASU (20-2) on the Sun Devil’s home court.

The Sun Devils come off a weekend road sweep of Colorado and Utah. The successful trip left Turner Thorne impressed with her team after losing their previous game to then No. 9 Oregon State.

After that loss, the players came to practice hungry and fired up, Thorne said.

“We built our toughness muscle,” Turner Thorne said. “It’s a muscle we continue to grow.”

Turner Thorne said competing against her former team has no special meaning now after coaching at ASU for 18 seasons.

“I’m way removed from my alma mater,” Turner Thorne said. “I’m a Sun Devil. I bleed maroon and gold. So do my kids. Look at our license plate.”

While no longer a Cardinal, there is still respect between Turner Thorne and Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, who coached Turner Thorne from 1985-1988.

The Sun Devils can sweep the regular season series between the two for the first time since the 1983-84 season.   To sweep the Cardinal, senior guard Promise Amukamara said the Sun Devils don’t need to change much from the last game. Consistency with the game plan is their focus.

The team also has to contain Stanford’s two guards, who rank in the top 16 in conference scoring.

“Once we shut them down that’s when we’ll control the game,” Amukamara said.

While ASU outrebounded Stanford 20-5 offensively, rebounding is still a major focus. At Wednesday’s practice, the coaches added a new consequence for not hustling on the boards. Every time a player didn’t rebound on both sides of the ball or box out defensively, that player stepped off the court and did either burpees or pushups.

Amukamara said those extra exercises took a toll but also let the players understand what the coaches wanted them to do. Rebound.

Because in February, it’s all about toughness, Thorne said.

Junior guard Elisha Davis echoed her coach.

“Towards the end of February and March, everything counts,” Davis said. “And everybody’s tired. So every little thing is going to matter.”

Arizona State guard Elisha Davis says the key to sweeping Stanford for the first time since 1984 will be rebounding. (Cronkite News Photo by Miranda Perez)