March 4, 2011
UP NEXT
Winners of four of its last five contests, the Arizona State women’s basketball team closes out the regular season on Saturday (2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT) when it concludes its road trip to the state of Oregon with a contest at Oregon State.
The Sun Devils (18-9, 10-7 Pac-10) enter Saturday’s regular-season finale in sole possession of third place in the Pac-10. ASU leads Arizona (18-10, 9-8 Pac-10) and USC (17-11, 9-8 Pac-10), who are tied for fourth place, by one game. A win would give ASU an undisputed claim to third place and the No. 3 seed in next week’s Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles where it would once again meet Oregon State (the No. 10 seed) in the first round on Wednesday.
The Sun Devils were able to maintain their slim lead in the Pac-10 following a come-from-behind 75-66 win at Oregon on Thursday night. Kimberly Brandon scored 12 of her game-high 20 points in the second half as ASU used a 21-6 run in the final 6:58 of the game to get the win. Brandon (7-13 FGs) also added eight rebounds, four steals, two assists and one block while Dymond Simon (17 points, 5-6 FTs) and Becca Tobin (15 points, 7-8 FGs) also scored in double figures for the Sun Devils.
ASU connected on 71 percent (5-7) of its field goals and 83 percent of its free throws (10-12) during the deciding stretch while limiting the Ducks to 33 percent (3-9 FGs) from the floor over that same span. In addition, ASU also did not have a single turnover during that stretch while outrebounding the Ducks 6-2.
After beginning the season 3-2 the Sun Devils went on a seven-game winning streak, which included a 79-66 win over current No. 12 DePaul and a 2-0 start in Pac-10 play. ASU then traveled to the Bay Area for its first Pac-10 road trip where it fell to both Cal and Stanford. The Sun Devils would then alternate wins and losses in their next eight games (4-4) before their recent three-game winning streak (at UW, at WSU and vs. USC), which was snapped last Saturday against No. 9 UCLA.
Knowing it needed a strong performance during the second half of Pac-10 play in order to return to the NCAA Tournament, ASU has responded with a 5-3 record thus far.
To say they have had to earn each of those wins would be an understatement. With nine minutes remaining in each of their last five wins the Sun Devils have either been behind (trailed Cal by 8 and Washington State by 6), tied (at Oregon) or ahead by four or fewer points (4 at Washington, 3 vs. USC). They have closed out those contests by outscoring the opposition by an average of 22.2-12.8 while shooting 52 percent from the field (28-53), including 46 percent from 3-point range (6-13), and nearly 88 percent (49-56) from the free throw line. Equally impressive has been ASU’s effort on defense over that same span as its opponents have shot 34 percent (24-71), including 13 percent from beyond the arc (2-15).
Despite its record, Oregon State (9-19, 2-15 Pac-10) has been one of the most competitive teams in the league as 10 of its Pac-10 losses have been by single digits, including five losses by four points or less. One of those was at ASU on New Year’s Eve where OSU missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have forced OT. In that game ASU used a 15-4 run in the second half to erase a 33-28 deficit. Brandon (19 points) and Simon (13 points) combined for 32 of ASU’s points in the win. Sage Indendi, who is currently Oregon State’s second leading scorer (10.7 ppg), had a game-high 20 points to lead the Beavers.
RADIO
Saturday’s game can be heard live on 1440 AM KAZG. Pre-game coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the Valley. Vince Marotta will be on hand to call the action.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• ASU has won 73 percent of its Pac-10 contests (78-29) since the 2005-06 season.
• The Sun Devils have won four of their last five road contests.
• Arizona State holds a 32-19 lead in the all-time series with Oregon State. The Sun Devils have won 18 of the last 19 meetings, including the last 16 in succession. Last season ASU defeated OSU 56-47 in Tempe and again 62-49 in Corvallis. Becca Tobin had six blocks in the first meeting last season, which came one block short of tying the school record. ASU won the first meeting of 2010-11, 49-46, in Tempe on New Year’s Eve.
• ASU is 15-2 this season when it has outrebounded the opposition (3-7 when it hasn’t). ASU is also 15-1 in games it has led at the half.
• ASU is 4-0 this season in games decided by three points or less. In those contests ASU has shown a trend of stepping up when it matters most as it has shot 56 pct. in the last five minutes of those games while limiting the opposition to 34 pct. And speaking of stepping up, senior F Becca Tobin is shooting 63 pct. from the field in the second half of Pac-10 games.
• ASU is currently second in the Pac-10 in free throw shooting percentage (.726) while Tenaya Watson (.805) and Dymond Simon (.804) are Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, in the league.
• Currently with 287 wins at ASU, Sun Devil head coach Charli Turner Thorne needs one more win to move into third place on the Pac-10’s all-time wins list. Turner Thorne is currently tied for third with former Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini.
• ASU has held the opposition to 56 or fewer points 12 times this season.
• ASU has had 15 or fewer turnovers 11 times this season with nine of those instances coming in its last 17 games. ASU had a season-low 11 turnovers last week vs. USC.
• Junior F Kimberly Brandon is averaging 15.0 points (27-47 FGs/57 pct and 17-18 FTs/94 pct) and 7.4 rebounds in ASU’s last five games. In addition, she is shooting 90 pct from the line (26-29 FTs) in ASU’s last 10 games
• Tenaya Watson has tallied 18 assists in ASU’s last three games.
• Currently with 95 career blocks, Becca Tobin needs four more rejections to tie former Sun Devil Fran Ciak (1987-90) for second place on ASU’s all-time list.
• ASU began the week No. 30 in the NCAA’s RPI standings. The Sun Devils have three Top 35 RPI wins (DePaul - currently No. 12 and two wins vs. USC - currently No. 35). Six of ASU’s nine losses are to teams in the top 14 of the RPI -- Tennessee (No. 2), Stanford (2x - No. 6), UCLA (2x - No. 7) and Florida State (No. 14).