2015-16 Non-Conference Schedule in PDF Format
TEMPE, Ariz. – The Arizona State University women’s basketball team will pick up right where it left off last March – competing against the nation’s best teams – when the 2015-16 season commences in November. Five schools that qualified for last year’s NCAA Tournament and a sixth that advanced to the second round of the WNIT comprise half of the Sun Devils’ non-conference schedule announced by head coach Charli Turner Thorne on Tuesday.
“Our program has set a standard over the years of playing a challenging non-conference schedule that not only gets us prepared for Pac-12 play, but also gives our fans the opportunity to see the kind of top-level, non-conference matchups that often occur in the month of March,” said Turner Thorne, who will be entering her 19th season. “In one year we have gone from a being young team to a veteran squad that features great experience and a lot of core returners and so I think this will be the perfect schedule for them.”
The Sun Devils have gone a combined 22-2 in regular season, non-conference games the last two seasons.
Here are highlights and notes about Sun Devils’ non-conference slate…
• ASU will open its 2015-16 season on Sun., Nov. 15 when it hosts the University of Kentucky at Wells Fargo Arena. The Wildcats have qualified for the NCAA Tournament each of the last six seasons and have recorded a trio of Elite Eight appearances during that stretch. The game will represent the first ever meeting between ASU and Kentucky.
• The Sun Devils will be spending Thanksgiving weekend in Hawaii, where they will be playing three games. ASU will open the tournament against 2015 Final Four participant South Carolina. The Gamecocks went 34-3 last season. The last of their three losses came against Notre Dame in the NCAA National semifinals. The Sun Devils came one win short of meeting South Carolina last season. A victory over Florida State in the Sweet 16 would have propelled ASU into an Elite Eight matchup against the Gamecocks in the Greensboro Regional final.
• Speaking of Florida State, the Sun Devils and Seminoles will have a rematch of last season’s Sweet 16 game when they meet in Tempe on Mon., Dec. 21. The contest between the two teams last March, won by Florida State 66-65, provided fans with one of the NCAA Tournament’s most exciting games as the Sun Devils nearly overcame a six-point deficit in the final two minutes. The Seminoles would finish the season 32-5 after coming up short against South Carolina in the ensuing Elite Eight contest. ASU’s contest against Florida State will be preceded by a home game vs. Marquette on Sat., Dec. 19.
• The Sun Devils will have a two-game East Coast swing that will start on Dec. 12 when they take on the Syracuse. This will be the second time in three seasons that the Sun Devils and Orange will battle on the hardwood. In 2013 the Sun Devils came away with a 63-60 win at home in a game that was not decided until the final seconds. Syracuse made its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance last season where it advanced to the second round and finished with a record of 22-10. The Sun Devils will conclude the road trip on Dec. 14 at Hartford.
• ASU will close out the non-conference portion of its schedule when it hosts CSUN on Mon., Dec. 28. The Matadors finished 23-10 last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
• The annual Sun Devil Classic will be played Dec. 5-6 and will feature VCU, Columbia and Toledo (advanced to the second round of the 2015 WNIT). ASU will play Columbia in the first round.
• In addition to the aforementioned trips to Hawaii and Syracuse/Hartford, the Sun Devils will also be on the road for the second game of the season when they travel to Dallas to take on SMU (Nov. 21). Last season the Sun Devils defeated the Mustangs 77-42 in Tempe.
• ASU will be on the road for four of its five games in November, however will be home for five of its seven games in December, including its last three before Pac-12 play begins.
The Sun Devils return 10 players, including four starters – senior guards Katie Hempen and Elisha Davis and junior posts Sophie Brunner and Kelsey Moos – from last year’s team that finished with 29 wins (second-highest total in team history) and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Brunner (Pan American Games) and Hempen (World University Games) will be competing for USA Basketball this summer. Also competing at the World University Games for her native Canada will be junior post Quinn Dornstauder.
Season tickets for the 2015-16 season are on sale now and can be purchased for as low as $49. For more information or to purchase, click here or call 480-965-5812.