WHAT: No. 8/11 Arizona State (16-3, 7-0 Pac-12) at Arizona (11-8, 2-5 Pac-12)
WHEN: Sunday at 5 p.m. MT
WHERE: McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz,
TELEVISION: Pac-12 Networks
RADIO: NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 (coverage begins at 4:30 p.m.)
UP NEXT
For the second time in three days state bragging rights will be at stake when the No. 8 Arizona State women’s basketball team goes on the road to face Arizona (Sunday at 5 p.m. MT, McKale Center in Tucson).
The Sun Devils (17-3, 7-0 Pac-12), who have won their last 13 games, currently sit atop the Pac-12 standings after recording wins in their first seven conference games. They hold a one-game lead over second-place Oregon State (15-3, 6-1) and a two-game lead in the loss column over Washington 15-4/6-2, Stanford 15-4/5-2 and UCLA 13-5/5-2. Arizona (11-8, 2-5 Pac-12) comes into Sunday’s game tied for eighth place with USC (14-5, 2-5) and Oregon (13-5/2-5).
An 18-3 run that spanned the last 37 seconds of the third quarter and the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in ASU’s 61-49 win over Arizona on Friday. Elisha Davis tied her career high with 16 points (eight in the second half) while Sophie Brunner added 15 points (10 in the second half) for the Sun Devils, who tied their best conference start in school history (7-0). Brunner also added a season-high seven steals and five rebounds while Davis had five assists and a career-high five steals in helping ASU record its 22nd win in its last 25 meetings against Arizona.
ASU’s current No. 8 ranking in the AP Top 25 ties its highest ever ranking in the poll (also ranked No. 8 in the AP poll in March of 2007). ASU’s current 13-game winning streak represents the 23rd time since 2001 that it has had a winning streak of five or more games. Included in those streaks are a 10-game winning streak in 2013-14 and a 14-game winning streak last season. The latter streak was one win short of tying the school record for consecutive wins (15) set in 2009.
With Friday’s win, the Sun Devils claimed half a point in the in the annual Territorial Cup Series between ASU and UA athletics. ASU brings a 5.0-1.0 lead into Sunday’s game.
TELEVISION/RADIO
Sunday’s game at Arizona can be seen live on Pac-12 Networks. Guy Haberman (play by play) and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude (analyst) will call the action.
The game can also be heard on Sun Devil WBB’s radio partner on the Sun Devil Sports Radio Network presented by MidFirst, NBC Sports Radio AM 1060. Coverage will begin at 4:30 p.m. Veteran broadcaster and the state of Arizona’s 2010 Broadcaster of the Year Jeff Munn is in his 12th season as the voice of ASU women’s basketball.
SERIES NOTES VERSUS ARIZONA (ASU LEADS 56-27)
• The Sun Devils have won 22 of the last 25 meetings. Their 11-game winning streak in the series was snapped by the Wildcats in 2011 in Tucson, 73-61.
• ASU swept the season series last year, winning 88-41 in Tucson and 71-54 in Tempe. Sophie Brunner (18.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg) and Katie Hempen (13.0 ppg/7-16 3-ptrs) combined to average 31.0 ppg while Elisha Davis had 16 assists with zero turnovers in the two games.
• The Sun Devils and Wildcats split the annual series in 2013-14 with each team winning on its home floor. ASU outscored UA 34-10 in the second half of the first meeting to break open what was a 26-26 game at the half. The Wildcats shot 55 percent in the rematch on their way to a 68-49 win in Tucson.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• ASU is 23-3 in its last 25 Pac-12 games going back to last season.
• ASU is 16-1 in its last 17 road games (not including neutral site games) going back to last season.
• ASU has outscored the opposition 79-51 and forced 25 turnovers in the second half of its last two games to help break open what were close games at the half. ASU led Utah 36-32 at the half (44-28 in second half) and was tied with Arizona 26-26 at the half (35-23 in second half).
• Sunday’s game is the first of three consecutive road games for the Sun Devils: at Arizona, at Oregon and at No. 11 Oregon State.
• As of Jan. 23, ASU is No. 10 in the NCAA RPI. The Sun Devils are one of eight Pac-12 teams among the top 53: Stanford: 5, UCLA: 7, OSU: 9, ASU: 10, UW: 20, USC: 27, Utah: 43 and WSU: 53.
• ASU ranks in the top third of the Pac-12 in scoring defense (2nd/51.8 ppg/10th in the nation), 3-point FG pct. defense (2nd/26.4), turnover margin (2nd/+4.7), assists (3rd/15.6 apg), rebounding defense (3rd/32.8), steals (4th/9.7 spg) and offensive rebounds (4th/13.8 rpg).
• ASU has held the opposition to a single-digit point total in a quarter 23 times this season times this season and 25 or fewer points in a half 17 times.
The six points Hartford scored in the first half against ASU on Dec. 14 represented the fewest points ASU has ever allowed in a half. The 31 points Stanford scored against ASU (Jan, 4) represented the Cardinal’s lowest single-game point total in school history.
• Seven different Sun Devils have led or tied for the team lead in scoring this season: Quinn Dornstauder (7x), Katie Hempen (4x), Arnecia Hawkins (4x), Sophie Brunner (4x), Elisha Davis (1x), Kelsey Moos (1x) and Sabrina Haines (1x).
• ASU has had 15 or fewer turnovers 12 times this season. Last season the Sun Devils set the school record for fewest turnover per game (14.3).
• Both of ASU’s starting forwards – Kelsey Moos and Sophie Brunner were injured in the second half of ASU’s 60-58 loss vs. South Carolina on Nov. 27 in Hawaii. Moos would go on to miss four games (returned at Syracuse on Dec. 12) and Brunner missed six games (returned vs. Marquette on Dec. 19). Moos also missed ASU’s contest vs. CSUN on Dec. 28. Brunner, who was named espnW’s National Player of the Week on Jan. 10, currently leads the team in scoring (11.0 ppg), rebounds (6.5 rpg), FG pct (51.8) and steals (2.3 spg) and is 3rd in assists (1.9 apg). Moos is second in rebounding (5.6 rpg) & FG pct. (48.3) and is one of the team’s biggest contributors on the defensive end.
• Currently in second place on ASU’s all-time list for career 3-pointers (155), senior guard Katie Hempen (started 61 of 87 games at ASU/54 straight starts) needs seven triples to pass Kylan Loney (161 - 2002-05) as ASU’s all-time leader. Hempen, who is fourth on the team in scoring (8.5 ppg), has connected on 42.2 percent of her 3-pointers this season (5th in the Pac-12).
• Senior guard Elisha Davis (started 58 of 118 career games/56 straight starts) is No. 3 on ASU’s all-time list for career assists (421). She needs 21 more to pass Jodi Rathbun (441/1983-86) for No. 2. Briann January (2006-09) is ASU’s all-time assists leader (534). Earlier this week Davis was one of 30 student-athletes named as candidates for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award® in women’s basketball.
• ASU’s leading scorer off the bench last season, starting junior center Quinn Dornstauder is currently second on the team in scoring (10.3 ppg). She had her first double-double of the season (15 points, 10 rebounds) in ASU’s win over Colorado on Jan. 15.
• With the earlier injuries to Brunner and Moos, senior guard Arnecia Hawkins stepped up to help fill the offensive void. During an earlier 10-game stretch (eight starts), Hawkins led ASU in scoring average (12.1 ppg) while connecting on 52 percent of her shots. Hawkins was named the Ann Meyers Drysdale Women’s National Player of the Week and Pac-12 Player of the Week for her performance in ASU’s 68-56 upset of No. 10 Florida State (Dec. 21) as she scored a career-high 23 points (13 in the fourth quarter) while making all seven of her field goal attempts (including a trio of 3-pointers). All eight of her double-figure scoring games have come in ASU’s last 14 games.
• Freshman guard Sabrina Haines leads ASU’s first-year players in scoring (5.9 ppg). She has scored in double figures three times, including a career-high 19 points in ASU’s win at Washington State (Jan. 10).
IN CASE YOU ARE JUST JOINING US
• ASU returns nine 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 most in team history) and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Brunner (Pan American Games – silver medal) and Hempen (World University Games – gold medal) both earned medals in July while competing for USA Basketball. Also earning a medal was junior center Quinn Dornstauder (Canada), who brought back a silver medal from the World University Games.
• ASU started the season ranked 15th in both the AP media poll and the USA Today Coaches’ poll. The Sun Devils were ranked as low as No. 24 on Dec. 7 before a 10-game winning streak propelled them into the AP Top 10 on Jan. 11 (No. 10). On Jan. 18 (12 straight wins) they moved up to No. 8 tying the highest AP ranking in program history.
• ASU was picked to finish third in the Pac-12 by the league’s coaches (1. Oregon State 2. Stanford 3. ASU) and second by the media who cover the league (1. Oregon State 2. ASU). Junior forward Sophie Brunner was selected to the media’s preseason All-Pac-12 team.
• On Dec. 14, 2015, ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne recorded her 400th career win following ASU’s 60-29 win at Hartford.
• Two of ASU’s three losses – vs. current No. 9 Kentucky (68-64 in OT on Nov. 15) and vs. current No. 2 South Carolina (60-58 on Nov. 27 in Hawaii) – have come by a combined six points to two of the nation’s top nine teams.
• After finishing the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 9-3 record, ASU is 31-5 in non-conference games the last three seasons.
• On Dec. 12, 2015, the Sun Devils won at Syracuse 61-54 and ended the Orange’s 72-game non-conference home court winning streak.
• In the last three seasons the Sun Devils are 20-6 in games decided by five points or less and/or overtime.
• The Sun Devils are 39-5 at home going back to the 2013-14 season.
DOMINANT DEVIL DEFENSE
One of the hallmarks of the Sun Devils women’s basketball team’s success during Charli Turner Thorne’s tenure at ASU has been great defense. Whether its offense is firing on all cylinders or not, ASU’s outstanding defense always gives it a shot to come out on top. Through 19 games, this year’s squad has continued the tradition of keeping the opposition’s offense in check. On average, opposing teams have scored 19.4 points under their scoring average when facing ASU. In fact, only one opponent (Marquette), scored more points than what it averaged coming into its game vs. ASU. Some of the Devils’ most impressive defensive performances this season include...
• Held second-ranked South Carolina 18.8 points below its scoring average.
• Set a school record for fewest points allowed in a half (6) at Hartford.
• Florida State scored 21.7 points below its average and tied its lowest output in a quarter (9 points) against ASU.
• Cal, which had scored more than 100 points in three of its previous four games prior to facing ASU, was held 33.2 points below its average.
• Held Stanford to its fewest points in school history (31) in 49-31 win.
Other defensive notes...
• Thirteen of ASU’s 19 of opponents have shot below 30 percent from 3-point range.
• ASU has held the opposition to a single-digit point total in a quarter 23 times this season times this season and 25 or fewer points in a half 17 times.
• ASU has forced 20 or more turnovers 10 times. ASU forced a season-high 27 turnovers vs. Arizona (Jan. 22).
• Marquette and Washington are ASU’s only opponents that have scored more than 60 points in regulation (Kentucky scored 56 in regulation and ended up with 68 points after overtime).
2014-15 RECAP
• ASU made its 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament (its 10th under head coach Charli Turner Thorne) and earned a No. 3 seed in the Greensboro Regional (tied highest NCAA seed in school history)... ASU got off to its best start (18-1) and conference start (7-0) in school history. In addition, ASU reached 20 wins faster than any team in program history (22 games)... ASU’s 14-game winning streak (started on Nov. 30 and ended on Jan. 25) was its second longest in school history. Only the 2008-09 team won more games in succession (15)… Tied the 2006-07 squad for the best road record in school history (10-1)… ASU’s two wins over Stanford during the regular season represented the first time a conference school swept Stanford during the regular season since 1988... Finished among the nation’s Top 30 teams in 3-Point Field Goal Percentage Defense (4th/25.4), Scoring Defense (21st/55.9 ppg), 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (22nd/36.1), Field Goal Percentage (27th/44.0) and Scoring Margin (27th/+11.0... Set the school record for fewest turnovers per game (14.3). Eclipsed the previous record (16.4 by the 2011-12 team) by more than two turnovers per game... Gave up nearly 10 fewer points per game (9.8) in 2014-15 (55.9) compared to the 2013-14 team (65.7).
CHARLI TURNER THORNE HAS SUN DEVIL WBB AMONG NATION’S ELITE
Arizona State head women’s basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year in 2015 for a season in which she led the Sun Devils to their best start in school history (18-1), their best conference start in school history (7-0), a second-place finish in the Pac-12 and 29 wins, the second-highest number of wins in school history.
The all-time winningest coach in program history and No. 2 in the Pac-12 in career wins (370), Turner Thorne has turned Sun Devil women’s basketball into one of the nation’s premiere programs since taking over in 1996-97. Included in ASU’s earlier run of 13 consecutive postseason appearances (2000-12) were a school record five-consecutive NCAA Tournament bids from 2005-09. During that time the Sun Devils qualified for the Elite Eight on a pair of occasions, making ASU one of only 15 programs in the country to have qualified for the Elite Eight at least two times between 2007-12.
In 2013-14, Turner Thorne helped the Sun Devils post one of the best turnarounds in the country as they went from a 13-18 record and a ninth-place Pac-12 finish (5-13) the previous season to a 23-10 record and fourth-place Pac-12 finish (11-7). Included among ASU’s 23 wins in 2013-14 were three triumphs over Top 25 teams.
On Jan. 25, 2013, Turner Thorne became the third Pac-12 coach to reach 300 victories following ASU’s 60-53 win over USC, a game in which ASU came back from 16 down in the second half. On December 14, 2015, Turner Thorne added another milestone as she won her 400th career game (360 at ASU and 40 at Northern Arizona).
A closer look at Turner Thorne’s path to 300 puts into perspective the incredible 180-degree turnaround Sun Devil women’s basketball has undergone since she came to ASU. To reach 150 wins at ASU it took Turner Thorne 272 games (150-122 - .551) as she rebuilt a program that had an aggregate record of 20-60 in the three years prior to her arrival and only two NCAA Tournament wins in its history. It would take her 215 games to get 150 more wins. Since picking up her 150th win at ASU, Turner Thorne is 220-94 (.700).
Last season, Turner Thorne led the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in her ASU tenure.
SUN DEVIL WBB EARNS NO. 7 RANKING IN WBCA ACADEMIC TOP 25
The Arizona State University women’s basketball team was among the top 10 women’s basketball programs in the classroom in 2014-15. The Sun Devil women’s basketball team’s combined team GPA of 3.558 was No. 7 among NCAA Division I institutions, according to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s (WBCA) 2015 Academic Team Honor Rolls, announced this past July. ASU was one of only seven schools among the WBCA’s Top 25 that also participated in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. On the court, the Sun Devils recorded the best finish of schools appearing in the WBCA’s Top 25 after advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Since the 1996-97 season (Charli Turner Thorne’s first season at ASU) ASU leads the Pac-12 in the number of first-team All-Academic conference awards (17) and the combined number of first- and second-team All-Academic conference awards (37).
SUN DEVIL WBB SIGNS TOP 10 CLASS FOR NEXT SEASON
On Nov. 11, 2015, Arizona State University head women’s basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne announced the signing of five student-athletes – Sydney Goodson, Reili Richardson, Jamie Ruden, Kiara Russell and Robbi Ryan – whose outstanding ability, talent and potential for immediate impact have the signing class ranked among the top 10 in the country by espnW HoopGurlz.
Goodson, a 5-8 guard, will be joining the Sun Devils from Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, where she has already led her team to a pair of TAPPS Class 5A state title game appearances. After a runner-up finish in 2013, the Lady Warriors came away with the title in 2015 as Goodson averaged 12.5 points, 3.4 assists and 2.5 steals on her way to earning First-Team All-State honors and being named the District’s Offensive Player of the Year.
Richardson will be coming to ASU from Brea Olinda High School in Brea, California. The 5-9 guard averaged 17.4 points as a junior while earning numerous awards, including MaxPreps 2014-15 California All-State Division 3 Second-Team recognition, Southern Section All-Open Division Team and Orange County Register All-County First-Team honors.
A 6-1 post, who has incredible versatility, Ruden has averaged 20 or more points each of the last three seasons for John Marshall High School (Rochester, Minnesota). Ruden is coming off a junior campaign in which she earned AP First-Team All-State and Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association Class 4A All-State recognition after averaging 23 points, eight rebounds and two assists per game in leading John Marshall to a 27-2 record and a state runner-up finish.
Also coming to ASU from the North Star State is Russell, a 5-8 guard out of Osseo High School in Osseo, Minnesota. Like Ruden, Russell also earned 2015 Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association Class 4A All-State honors after a spectacular junior campaign in which she averaged 23.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 3.8 steals.
A 5-9 guard, Ryan enters the 2015-16 season as the reigning Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Wyoming, where she has enjoyed a prolific career at Sheridan High School (Sheridan, Wyoming). Named to the All-State team in each of her first three seasons, Ryan has twice been invited to the U17 Olympic trials for women’s basketball and has also competed in the Chicago Nike National Invitation Tournament.