WHAT: No. 17 Sun Devil WBB (9-2, 0-0 Pac-12) at Arizona (10-1, 0-0 Pac-12)
WHEN: Sunday at 5 p.m. MT
WHERE: McKale Center • Tucson, Ariz.
TELEVISION: Pac-12 Network/Arizona
RADIO: NBC Sports Radio AM 1060/TuneIn
LIVE STATS: http://statb.us/v/asu/233869
UP NEXT
The No. 17 Arizona State women's basketball team opens Pac-12 play with the first of three straight road games on Sunday (5 p.m. MT) when it travels to Tucson to face Arizona in the first of this season's two Territorial Cup Series contests. The Sun Devils (9-2) are currently riding a seven-game winning streak while the Wildcats (10-1) have won nine games in a row.
ASU is currently in the middle of a stretch in which it is playing five of six games on the road with its win over Fresno State on Dec. 20 being the only home game in that span. After Sunday's game the Sun Devils will prepare for a trip to the Pac-12's Mountain schools to face Utah (Jan. 4) and Colorado (Jan. 6).
Since splitting their first four games – two losses came to then-No. 3 Baylor (65-59) and then-No. 4 Louisville (58-56) by a combined eight points – the Sun Devils have won their last seven games in convincing fashion with the average margin of victory being 25.9 points.
LAST GAME
Courtney Ekmark (17 points) and Kianna Ibis (15 points) combined for 32 points to help lead ASU to a 68-52 win over Fresno State on Thursday, Dec. 20.
Ekmark knocked down five of ASU's nine 3-pointers in helping the Sun Devils secure their seventh win in a row heading into Pac-12 play. Also contributing to ASU's offensive effort were Robbi Ryan (seven points/2-3 FGs), Sophia
Elenga (six points/3-4 FGs/four rebounds) and Iris Mbulito (five points/1-2 FGs/), who combined to make 67 percent of their shots (6-9 FGs).
Charnea Johnson-Chapman led ASU's rebounding effort with eight, including a game-high five offensive boards. Kiara Russell (five assists/tied season high), Reili Richardson (four assists) and Johnson-Chapman (three assists/tied career high) combined for 12 of ASU's 19 assists in the game. Russell also added four rebounds and two steals while Richardson also had a pair of steals.
COVERAGE
Sunday's game can be seen on Pac-12 Network/Arizona (Cindy Brunson/Tracy Warren). It can also be heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 and on the Sun Devil Sports Network's TuneIn Channel (pregame coverage will start at 4:30 p.m. MT). Veteran broadcaster and the state of Arizona's 2010 Broadcaster of the Year Jeff Munn is in his 15th season as the voice of ASU women's basketball.
RANKINGS
ASU is ranked No. 17 in the AP poll for the fourth straight week and is No. 18 in the USA TODAY Sports Top 25 women's basketball coaches' poll. The Sun Devils were ranked 23rd in the preseason AP poll, one of five Pac-12 teams – No. 3 Oregon, No. 7 Stanford, No. 8 Oregon State, No. 24 Cal – that were ranked, marking the third-straight year the conference has had five teams in the preseason poll.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• During its current seven-game winning streak ASU is... Outscoring the opposition by an average of 25.9 points (72.0-46.1)... Shooting 47.0 percent, including 38.1 percent from long range... Averaging 18.9 assists and only 12.4 turnovers... Allowing its opponents to shoot only 34.3 percent... Is +14.4 on the boards.
• ASU's current seven-game winning streak represents the 24th time since 2004 that it has had a winning streak of five or more games. The current string of wins is the program's longest since it tied the school record with 15 straight in 2015-16.
• ASU is currently ranked among the nation's top 25 in... scoring defense (10th/52.2 ppg), assist-to-turnover ratio (10th/1.42), fewest turnovers per game (13th/12.8), rebounding margin (19th/+10.5) and assists per game (21st/18.2).
• ASU has held the opposition to 12 or fewer points in a quarter 20x this season (single digits 13x) and has outrebounded the opposition in all but one game (vs. Baylor).
• Guards Reili Richardson (36 assists/seven turnovers) and Kiara Russell (21 assists/seven turnovers) have combined for 57 assists and only 14 turnovers in the last seven games. The duo has also combined to shoot 57 percent (24-42) during the same stretch. Richardson is No. 4 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio.
• In the last six games, Courtney Ekmark has averaged 14.8 ppg and knocked down 42 percent (20-48) of her attempts from downtown. Ekmark made a season-high six triples at Colorado State (Dec. 9), one short of tying the single-game school record she already shares. She has hit three or more 3-pointers six times this season.
• Senior posts Sophia Elenga (31-51/60.8) and Charnea Johnson-Chapman (26-48/56.2) have combined to shoot 57.5 percent (57-99) from the floor.
• Kianna Ibis has scored in double figures in all but one game this season.
• ASU has knocked down nine or more 3-pointers six times this season, something it accomplished twice all last season.
• ASU's bench has more than doubled the opposition in points per game, 30.4-12.2.
SERIES NOTES VERSUS ARIZONA
The Sun Devils have won 27 of the last 31 meetings. ASU swept the season series in 2015, 2016 and 2018. In addition to the two regular season wins – 75-50 in Tempe and 69-45 in Tucson – games, ASU also recorded a 76-47 win over the Wildcats in the first found of the Pac-12 Tournament last March. Robbi Ryan (13.7 ppg), Kianna Ibis (12.3 ppg), Courtney Ekmark (11.3 ppg) and Jamie Ruden (10.0 ppg) all averaged double figures in scoring last season's wins while Reili Richardson (18 assists, four TOs) and Kiara Russell (12 assists, 0 TOs) combined for 30 assists and only four TOs. Ryan poured a career-high 24 points in the win in Tempe.
NON-CONFERENCE SUMMARY
The Sun Devils concluded the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 9-2 record, the sixth straight season they have won nine or more games before the start of Pac-12 play. During that stretch ASU has won 84 percent of its non-conference contests (58-11). ASU nearly upset top five teams on two different occasions during the first month of the season. The Sun Devils had then-fourth-ranked Baylor on the ropes on Nov. 11, but in the end the Bears were able to outlast the Sun Devils, 65-59. ASU led by as many as 14 points in the second quarter, by 11 at the half and entered the final period with a four-point lead. On Nov. 23 ASU once again found itself in position to knock off a top-five team, this time it was then-No. 5 Louisville. ASU led by as many as six in the fourth quarter. After shooting 45 pct (13-29) in the second/third quarters, ASU shot only 14 percent over the final 10 minutes. Louisville scored the winning basket with less than two seconds left to escape with the victory. The Cardinals' 10 other wins have come by an average of 25.6 points.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR 2018-19
The Sun Devils are coming off a campaign in which they tied the school records for consecutive NCAA appearances (five) and 20-win seasons (five). The team returns all of its core players from last season including 2018 All-Pac-12 standout and leading scorer Kianna Ibis and 2018 All-Pac-12 honorable mention/Pac-12 defensive honorable mention selection Robbi Ryan. Also returning are the team's 2017-18 leaders in 3-pointers (senior Courtney Ekmark), field goal percentage (senior Charnea Johnson-Chapman), assists (junior Reili Richardson) and steals (junior Kiara Russell). Head coach Charli Turner Thorne, who is in her 22nd season, also welcomed what is expected to be an impactful freshman class: Taya Hanson, Jamie Loera, Iris Mbulito, Jayde Van Hyfte.
DOMINANT DEVIL DEFENSE
• ASU has allowed an average of only 56.3 points per game since the start of the 2014-15 season (147 games). ASU has held the opposition to 50 or fewer points 49 times during that stretch. They are 48-1 in those contests. The only loss came at home to Cal (50-49) on Feb. 8, 2015. Over that same stretch, ASU has allowed the opposition to make only 28.6 percent of its attempts from long range.
• Against then-No. 5 Louisville on Nov. 23, ASU held the Cardinals 25 points below their scoring average and put the clamps on Louisville's leading scorer Asia Durr, who had 14 points on 5-18 shooting (27.7 percent). Durr came into the contest averaging 25.7 points and had made half of her shots (26-52).
• In the fourth quarter of its last two games (vs. Kansas State, vs. Fresno State) ASU allowed the opposition to shoot just 18.5 percent (5-27) as the Sun Devils took single-digit leads into the fourth quarter of both games.
• ASU concluded the 2017-18 regular season first in the Pac-12 in scoring defense. It limited the opposition to 12 or fewer points in a quarter 51x last season, including a season low of two points scored by Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals (Mar. 1). On Feb. 23, 2018, ASU held eventual Elite Eight participant Oregon to 57 points – nearly 27 points below its scoring average at the time and its lowest point total of the season. In its 57-51 win over Oregon State (Mar. 2) in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Pac-12 Tournament the Sun Devils limited the Beavers to seven points in the first quarter and five in the final quarter, including a single point in the last five minutes. During that stretch ASU outscored the Beavers 13-1 to overcome a six-point deficit.
BALANCED OFFENSE
ASU has eight returning players who led or tied for the team lead in scoring last season. Kianna Ibis led the way 12x, followed by Robbi Ryan (9x), Courtney Ekmark (7x), Jamie Ruden (2x), Charnea Johnson-Chapman (2x), Sophia Elenga (2x), Reili Richardson (1x) and Kiara Russell (1x). ASU has already had five players lead or tie for the team lead in scoring this season: Ibis (4x), Ekmark (4x), Elenga (2x), Ruden (1x), and Richardson (1x).
BENCH PRODUCTION
In 2017-18 ASU's reserves outscored the opposition's bench 22.5-12.1. If the early returns in 2018-19 are any indication – on average ASU's reserves have outscored the opposition's 30.4-12.2 in the first 11 games – the Sun Devils' depth will once again be one of the strengths of the team. Jamie Ruden, who paced ASU with 15 points in the season opener vs. Incarnate Word, finished fourth on the team in scoring (8.6 ppg) last season. Freshman Jamie Loera, who missed the first game recovering from illness, connected on her first five 3-pointers. In ASU's contest at Arkansas, freshman guard Iris Mbulito (13 points) and senior post Sophia Elenga (11 points) combined for 24 points. Elenga also added a career-high 12 rebounds in accounting for her first career double-double. Elenga was named to the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout All-Tournament Team after averaging 11.0 points and 8.5 rebounds. Elenga (7.3 ppg) and Ruden (5.5 ppg) are both combing to average nearly 13 points per game to lead the way.
WHEN: Sunday at 5 p.m. MT
WHERE: McKale Center • Tucson, Ariz.
TELEVISION: Pac-12 Network/Arizona
RADIO: NBC Sports Radio AM 1060/TuneIn
LIVE STATS: http://statb.us/v/asu/233869
UP NEXT
The No. 17 Arizona State women's basketball team opens Pac-12 play with the first of three straight road games on Sunday (5 p.m. MT) when it travels to Tucson to face Arizona in the first of this season's two Territorial Cup Series contests. The Sun Devils (9-2) are currently riding a seven-game winning streak while the Wildcats (10-1) have won nine games in a row.
ASU is currently in the middle of a stretch in which it is playing five of six games on the road with its win over Fresno State on Dec. 20 being the only home game in that span. After Sunday's game the Sun Devils will prepare for a trip to the Pac-12's Mountain schools to face Utah (Jan. 4) and Colorado (Jan. 6).
Since splitting their first four games – two losses came to then-No. 3 Baylor (65-59) and then-No. 4 Louisville (58-56) by a combined eight points – the Sun Devils have won their last seven games in convincing fashion with the average margin of victory being 25.9 points.
LAST GAME
Courtney Ekmark (17 points) and Kianna Ibis (15 points) combined for 32 points to help lead ASU to a 68-52 win over Fresno State on Thursday, Dec. 20.
Ekmark knocked down five of ASU's nine 3-pointers in helping the Sun Devils secure their seventh win in a row heading into Pac-12 play. Also contributing to ASU's offensive effort were Robbi Ryan (seven points/2-3 FGs), Sophia
Elenga (six points/3-4 FGs/four rebounds) and Iris Mbulito (five points/1-2 FGs/), who combined to make 67 percent of their shots (6-9 FGs).
Charnea Johnson-Chapman led ASU's rebounding effort with eight, including a game-high five offensive boards. Kiara Russell (five assists/tied season high), Reili Richardson (four assists) and Johnson-Chapman (three assists/tied career high) combined for 12 of ASU's 19 assists in the game. Russell also added four rebounds and two steals while Richardson also had a pair of steals.
COVERAGE
Sunday's game can be seen on Pac-12 Network/Arizona (Cindy Brunson/Tracy Warren). It can also be heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 and on the Sun Devil Sports Network's TuneIn Channel (pregame coverage will start at 4:30 p.m. MT). Veteran broadcaster and the state of Arizona's 2010 Broadcaster of the Year Jeff Munn is in his 15th season as the voice of ASU women's basketball.
RANKINGS
ASU is ranked No. 17 in the AP poll for the fourth straight week and is No. 18 in the USA TODAY Sports Top 25 women's basketball coaches' poll. The Sun Devils were ranked 23rd in the preseason AP poll, one of five Pac-12 teams – No. 3 Oregon, No. 7 Stanford, No. 8 Oregon State, No. 24 Cal – that were ranked, marking the third-straight year the conference has had five teams in the preseason poll.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• During its current seven-game winning streak ASU is... Outscoring the opposition by an average of 25.9 points (72.0-46.1)... Shooting 47.0 percent, including 38.1 percent from long range... Averaging 18.9 assists and only 12.4 turnovers... Allowing its opponents to shoot only 34.3 percent... Is +14.4 on the boards.
• ASU's current seven-game winning streak represents the 24th time since 2004 that it has had a winning streak of five or more games. The current string of wins is the program's longest since it tied the school record with 15 straight in 2015-16.
• ASU is currently ranked among the nation's top 25 in... scoring defense (10th/52.2 ppg), assist-to-turnover ratio (10th/1.42), fewest turnovers per game (13th/12.8), rebounding margin (19th/+10.5) and assists per game (21st/18.2).
• ASU has held the opposition to 12 or fewer points in a quarter 20x this season (single digits 13x) and has outrebounded the opposition in all but one game (vs. Baylor).
• Guards Reili Richardson (36 assists/seven turnovers) and Kiara Russell (21 assists/seven turnovers) have combined for 57 assists and only 14 turnovers in the last seven games. The duo has also combined to shoot 57 percent (24-42) during the same stretch. Richardson is No. 4 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio.
• In the last six games, Courtney Ekmark has averaged 14.8 ppg and knocked down 42 percent (20-48) of her attempts from downtown. Ekmark made a season-high six triples at Colorado State (Dec. 9), one short of tying the single-game school record she already shares. She has hit three or more 3-pointers six times this season.
• Senior posts Sophia Elenga (31-51/60.8) and Charnea Johnson-Chapman (26-48/56.2) have combined to shoot 57.5 percent (57-99) from the floor.
• Kianna Ibis has scored in double figures in all but one game this season.
• ASU has knocked down nine or more 3-pointers six times this season, something it accomplished twice all last season.
• ASU's bench has more than doubled the opposition in points per game, 30.4-12.2.
SERIES NOTES VERSUS ARIZONA
The Sun Devils have won 27 of the last 31 meetings. ASU swept the season series in 2015, 2016 and 2018. In addition to the two regular season wins – 75-50 in Tempe and 69-45 in Tucson – games, ASU also recorded a 76-47 win over the Wildcats in the first found of the Pac-12 Tournament last March. Robbi Ryan (13.7 ppg), Kianna Ibis (12.3 ppg), Courtney Ekmark (11.3 ppg) and Jamie Ruden (10.0 ppg) all averaged double figures in scoring last season's wins while Reili Richardson (18 assists, four TOs) and Kiara Russell (12 assists, 0 TOs) combined for 30 assists and only four TOs. Ryan poured a career-high 24 points in the win in Tempe.
NON-CONFERENCE SUMMARY
The Sun Devils concluded the non-conference portion of their schedule with a 9-2 record, the sixth straight season they have won nine or more games before the start of Pac-12 play. During that stretch ASU has won 84 percent of its non-conference contests (58-11). ASU nearly upset top five teams on two different occasions during the first month of the season. The Sun Devils had then-fourth-ranked Baylor on the ropes on Nov. 11, but in the end the Bears were able to outlast the Sun Devils, 65-59. ASU led by as many as 14 points in the second quarter, by 11 at the half and entered the final period with a four-point lead. On Nov. 23 ASU once again found itself in position to knock off a top-five team, this time it was then-No. 5 Louisville. ASU led by as many as six in the fourth quarter. After shooting 45 pct (13-29) in the second/third quarters, ASU shot only 14 percent over the final 10 minutes. Louisville scored the winning basket with less than two seconds left to escape with the victory. The Cardinals' 10 other wins have come by an average of 25.6 points.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR 2018-19
The Sun Devils are coming off a campaign in which they tied the school records for consecutive NCAA appearances (five) and 20-win seasons (five). The team returns all of its core players from last season including 2018 All-Pac-12 standout and leading scorer Kianna Ibis and 2018 All-Pac-12 honorable mention/Pac-12 defensive honorable mention selection Robbi Ryan. Also returning are the team's 2017-18 leaders in 3-pointers (senior Courtney Ekmark), field goal percentage (senior Charnea Johnson-Chapman), assists (junior Reili Richardson) and steals (junior Kiara Russell). Head coach Charli Turner Thorne, who is in her 22nd season, also welcomed what is expected to be an impactful freshman class: Taya Hanson, Jamie Loera, Iris Mbulito, Jayde Van Hyfte.
DOMINANT DEVIL DEFENSE
• ASU has allowed an average of only 56.3 points per game since the start of the 2014-15 season (147 games). ASU has held the opposition to 50 or fewer points 49 times during that stretch. They are 48-1 in those contests. The only loss came at home to Cal (50-49) on Feb. 8, 2015. Over that same stretch, ASU has allowed the opposition to make only 28.6 percent of its attempts from long range.
• Against then-No. 5 Louisville on Nov. 23, ASU held the Cardinals 25 points below their scoring average and put the clamps on Louisville's leading scorer Asia Durr, who had 14 points on 5-18 shooting (27.7 percent). Durr came into the contest averaging 25.7 points and had made half of her shots (26-52).
• In the fourth quarter of its last two games (vs. Kansas State, vs. Fresno State) ASU allowed the opposition to shoot just 18.5 percent (5-27) as the Sun Devils took single-digit leads into the fourth quarter of both games.
• ASU concluded the 2017-18 regular season first in the Pac-12 in scoring defense. It limited the opposition to 12 or fewer points in a quarter 51x last season, including a season low of two points scored by Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals (Mar. 1). On Feb. 23, 2018, ASU held eventual Elite Eight participant Oregon to 57 points – nearly 27 points below its scoring average at the time and its lowest point total of the season. In its 57-51 win over Oregon State (Mar. 2) in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Pac-12 Tournament the Sun Devils limited the Beavers to seven points in the first quarter and five in the final quarter, including a single point in the last five minutes. During that stretch ASU outscored the Beavers 13-1 to overcome a six-point deficit.
BALANCED OFFENSE
ASU has eight returning players who led or tied for the team lead in scoring last season. Kianna Ibis led the way 12x, followed by Robbi Ryan (9x), Courtney Ekmark (7x), Jamie Ruden (2x), Charnea Johnson-Chapman (2x), Sophia Elenga (2x), Reili Richardson (1x) and Kiara Russell (1x). ASU has already had five players lead or tie for the team lead in scoring this season: Ibis (4x), Ekmark (4x), Elenga (2x), Ruden (1x), and Richardson (1x).
BENCH PRODUCTION
In 2017-18 ASU's reserves outscored the opposition's bench 22.5-12.1. If the early returns in 2018-19 are any indication – on average ASU's reserves have outscored the opposition's 30.4-12.2 in the first 11 games – the Sun Devils' depth will once again be one of the strengths of the team. Jamie Ruden, who paced ASU with 15 points in the season opener vs. Incarnate Word, finished fourth on the team in scoring (8.6 ppg) last season. Freshman Jamie Loera, who missed the first game recovering from illness, connected on her first five 3-pointers. In ASU's contest at Arkansas, freshman guard Iris Mbulito (13 points) and senior post Sophia Elenga (11 points) combined for 24 points. Elenga also added a career-high 12 rebounds in accounting for her first career double-double. Elenga was named to the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout All-Tournament Team after averaging 11.0 points and 8.5 rebounds. Elenga (7.3 ppg) and Ruden (5.5 ppg) are both combing to average nearly 13 points per game to lead the way.