Arizona State women’s basketball nearly lost the handle on an up and down game against Pacific, but Jaddan Simmons and Jalyn Brown played with a purpose and didn’t allow the Sun Devils to drop a close game down the stretch Friday.
With both players digging ASU out of a dangerous slump in the fourth quarter, in which ASU was outscored 19-5, the Sun Devils went on a 13-3 run and finished with a 76-66 win at Desert Financial Arena in the 2023 Briann January Classic.
The Sun Devils went through some lows early in the game, following up a great shooting performance of 8-for-12 (66.7%) in the first quarter with 3-for-17 (17.6%) in the second quarter.
It helped that the Tigers had scoring woes in the second quarter, only making two field goals on 11 attempts (18.2%). But there were still concerns that needed to be addressed in the second half.
Defensively, ASU pressured Pacific with five steals and four blocks, along with forcing 10 turnovers. Head coach Natasha Adair still expected more from her group in the second half and ASU delivered with eight steals and 14 points off turnovers.
“I felt like we were a step slow and I felt like we were a little reactive,” Adair said. “We came out with a 27-point third quarter and it was off of our defense. Being able to get those turnovers and those transition points off turnovers, second chance opportunities, that’s how we’re activating.”
Key moments
Following a poor showing in the second quarter, the Sun Devils needed to take control in the second half. Led by Simmons, ASU countered with a quick 6-0 run over 39 seconds that snowballed into a 13-2 advantage. The Sun Devils forced four turnovers from Pacific in the span and gained a 46-34 lead.
From there, ASU gained confidence and shot at a 60% clip on 12-of-20 without any turnovers. ASU has played the last two games with 10 or fewer turnovers.
Top performers
Simmons put the game in her hands, leading the Sun Devils with seven points in a crucial third quarter, including four of the six points in the quarter’s opening run. Simmons converted a steal into a layup to spark the Sun Devils.
Simmons recorded her career high in scoring with 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting and added seven rebounds on 40 minutes.
Jalyn Brown got ASU off to a torrid pace in the first quarter, scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. She matched her career high with 20 points and added three assists.
They said it
“We talk about valuing the possession and we talk about how we always want to be under 12 turnovers per game. When we went in at halftime, we had eight. When you look at the second half, we had two in the second half. Some of it was high risk plays and I thought we got in our continuity and motion offense and we were moving the ball around instead of settling for those quick shots that can lead to those turnovers sometimes.” — head coach Natasha Adair on ASU doing a good job on turnovers.
“It always means a lot because it’s been a minute since I’ve been up there a lot. I was struggling in the Virgin Islands a little bit (last week), so it just feels good to get back home and concentrate on what I need to do to help my team. Given the career high, I just know that it can be anybody on any given night so it’s nice to have that.” — guard Jaddan Simmons on reaching a career high in scoring.
“I feel like over the course of the games we did play, they probably did watch film in the Virgin Islands and I shot pretty well. I realize most of the time, if teams see me shooting pretty well in a game before, it’s going to be a driving game. Today, I saw that they were pressing up on me so it was a good time to utilize my foot speed and get around them and get to the basket and finish.” — guard Jalyn Brown on the adjustments she faced from Pacific.
Up next
ASU (7-2) begins a month-long stay at home where it will play all six of its games either in Tempe or in downtown Phoenix. ASU will have a quick turnaround and will face Xavier (0-7) at 4 p.m. on Saturday for the tournament’s finale. Xavier lost 78-41 to Temple earlier in the day.