ASU Women’s Basketball: Early struggles and rebounding haunt ASU against No. 6 Stanford

Arizona State (10-8, 5-8 Pac-12) has become accustomed to two things this season: starting slow and struggling to control the glass. Both of those issues led to No. 6 Stanford’s (20-2, 17-2 Pac-12) 80-41 blowout on Friday night.

In the first meeting between these two teams back on Jan. 3, Stanford started the game on a 19-4 run in the first quarter. The Sun Devils were eventually able to find their stride in the last three quarters to only lose 68-60.

On Friday night, Stanford won the first quarter 19-7 and there was no resistance from ASU beyond that. The most points Arizona State scored in a quarter was 16 in the fourth, mostly because that’s when they had their biggest run (6-0) that was made up of four free throws and a layup.

Eboni Walker led the Sun Devils with 11 points on 4-6 shooting, including a three-pointer. Taya Hanson added 10 points, but struggled to find a rhythm after missing her first five shots from the field.

Going against the top rebounding team in the Pac-12 is no small challenge either, but the Sun Devils seemed to put up little resistance. The Cardinal outrebounded ASU 48-21, which included 15 offensive rebounds.

Of the six Stanford players who are averaging double-digit points per game, three of them reached that mark in the second meeting against ASU. Kiana Williams (14.3 ppg) led the team with 18 points, Lexie Hull (10.8 ppg) added 12, and Haley Jones (13.9 ppg) had an efficient 11 as well. Coming off the bench, Hannah Jump (6.4 ppg) scored 17 points in 16 minutes too.

The Sun Devils will have a shot to right the ship, as they look to take down Cal for the second time this year at 2 p.m. local time.