#19 Arizona State travels to Boulder on Sunday to take on a Colorado Buffaloes team that has fallen out of the ranking after losing their first two Pac-12 games to USC and No. 9 UCLA.
ASU on the other hand has won their last two games after falling in their Pac-12 opener at home to No. 10 Stanford. The Cardinal out-shot ASU behind the arc, and was able to pull away in the third quarter.
Following that game, the Sun Devils needed two overtimes to take care of No. 20 Cal. Sophie Brunner (21) and Quinn Dornstauder (19) led the team in points in a game in which ASU put up a whopping 65 shots.
After their game at Cal, ASU was able to get back their freshman guard, Kiara Russell. Russell had been the starting point guard until her injury against Florida, and was averaging 18 minutes and 5 points a game.
In her absence, it was another freshman, Reili Richardson who took her spot in the starting lineup and has been excelling ever since, scoring in double digits all but twice in Russell’s absence. Coach Charli Turner Thorne has raved about Richardson’s incredible poise for a freshman, as she is averaging 27 minutes and 8.8 points per game.
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The injuries in the backcourt were subdued because of the dominating, consonant play from the seniors, Sophie Brunner and Quinn Dornstauder. They have made themselves a presence down low, and the leading scorers and rebounders on the Sun Devils. Brunner averages 12.6 points per game and 7 rebounds per game, with Dornstauder right behind her with 9 PPG and 5.5 RPG.
They have opened the floor for he guards by having to frequently draw double teams, and their physicality wares the opposing team down, allowing ASU to score quicker and have more fast break points. They are also the main contributors to ASU’s best trait, rebounding.
The Sun Devils have out rebounded their opponents in all but one game (Maryland), most of the time it wasn’t even close, with ASU having the edge frequently by more than 15. Charli Turner Thorne called it the best thing ASU is doing, and it should be, with the two great players ASU has down low for them.
On the other side, one of the Devils biggest weaknesses is their three point shooting, they are almost never hitting more than their opponents and in most games they shot between 15-25 percent from behind the arc. Some of this is due to the young guards holding the ball and having to throw up a prayer before the shot clock runs out.
Colorado is lead by their guards, Haley Smith, Kennedy Leonard, and Alexis Robinson, a tough task for ASU’s young frontcourt. The Sun devils will try to make the Buffalos talented guards beat them. Colorado is not a great rebounding team, so the Devils frontcourt will limit Colorado’s second chances.
Tip-off of Arizona State-Colorado is at 6 p.m. MST and can be seen on Pac-12 Networks.
