TEMPE, Ariz. – After a fifth-place finish in the Pac-12 regular season standings, the No. 21 Arizona State women's basketball team will open play in the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday (11:30 a.m. PT/12:30 p.m. MT) when it faces No. 12 seed Colorado at MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
The Sun Devils started the day with a chance to earn the last first-round bye in the tournament – byes are awarded to the top four teams in the final Pac-12 regular season standings – but neither of the two results the Sun Devils needed – a win over Oregon and a loss by UCLA to Colorado – happened on Sunday.
Despite holding No. 6 Oregon, the NCAA's scoring leader (88.0 ppg), to its second-lowest point total of the season, the Sun Devils were not able to post their second straight win over a top-10 foe as the Ducks outscored ASU 20-9 in the fourth quarter on their way to a 66-59 victory on Sunday.
Kianna Ibis scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Robbi Ryan added 12 points and three assists for the Sun Devils (19-9, 10-7 Pac-12), who were coming off a 66-54 win over No. 9 Oregon State on Friday night.
Reili Richardson, who came into the game No. 2 in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio, added seven more assists with only one turnover and also pulled down a career-high nine boards to lead ASU's rebounding effort. Ibis and Sophia Elenga also had strong performances on the glass, grabbing eight rebounds each. As a team, the Sun Devils were outrebounded for only the fifth time in 28 games this season.
"Obviously we knew it was going to come down to rebounding, and we did not get the job done on the boards, especially in the fourth quarter. That was the difference in the game." ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "We'll shore up a few things. We all know rebounding is what wins championships, and if we get that piece down then I think we're right there to make a good run in March."
Sabrina Ionescu (19 points), Satou Sabally (18 points) and Maite Cazorla (17 points) combined for 54 of the Ducks' points to help Oregon clinch its second consecutive outright Pac-12 regular season championship.
Trailing by six points early in the third quarter, the Sun Devils scored six straight points – layups by Ibis and Charnea Johnson-Chapman and a jumper by Ryan – to tie the score at 37-37.
Ibis scored five points during ASU's 7-0 run to end the quarter to put the Sun Devils up 50-46 entering the final frame.
The Ducks (27-3, 16-2) started the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run and went up by six after Cazorla's jumper gave Oregon a 58-52 advantage with 5:25 remaining.
Ibis came back with five straight points to get the Sun Devils back within a single point.
After Oregon extended its lead back to five points, Johnson-Chapman scored on a layup to get ASU back within a single-possession, 62-59 with 1:19 remaining. Unfortunately for ASU, it would get no closer as the Ducks scored the last four points to close out the win.
Both teams shot under 30 percent in the first quarter – Oregon: 27.8/ASU: 28.6 – as defenses ruled the first 10 minutes. Ryan knocked down a pair of triples and led the Sun Devils with six points, as they ended the period facing a 13-11 deficit.
The second quarter was a much different story with both teams hitting their shots at a higher rate of accuracy – Oregon 64 percent/ASU: 57 percent. Neither team enjoyed a lead of more than three points until the last seconds of the quarter when Oregon scored the last of four straight points in the final 1:08 to take a 33-29 lead into the locker room.
Ryan added four points in the quarter and led ASU with 10 points at the half. Ibis had five points and Jamie Ruden, who did not play in the last two games due to injury, had four points in the second quarter.
Sunday's game was the final at home for Sun Devil seniors Sophia Elenga, Courtney Ekmark, Kianna Ibis and Charnea Johnson-Chapman. The four-member class was honored in a ceremony after the game.
"This is always a really special day for us," Turner Thorne said. "We have four amazing seniors that we love to death and they have been so much more than just great basketball players for this program. It would've been nice to go out with a win, but all in all we just appreciate everybody coming out to celebrate, not just this team but them. This is their last game in Wells Fargo Arena, but it's not our last game and we're excited for postseason."
The Sun Devils were victorious in both of their contests against Colorado this season, defeating the Buffaloes 76-70 on Jan. 6 in Boulder and 66-49 on Feb. 15 in Tempe.
ASU's Pac-12 Tournament contest vs. Colorado on Thursday can be seen on Pac-12 Networks and heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060. A win over Colorado would advance ASU to Friday's quarterfinal round where it would face No. 4 seed/No. 25 UCLA at 11:30 a.m. PT/12:30 p.m. MT.
The Sun Devils started the day with a chance to earn the last first-round bye in the tournament – byes are awarded to the top four teams in the final Pac-12 regular season standings – but neither of the two results the Sun Devils needed – a win over Oregon and a loss by UCLA to Colorado – happened on Sunday.
Despite holding No. 6 Oregon, the NCAA's scoring leader (88.0 ppg), to its second-lowest point total of the season, the Sun Devils were not able to post their second straight win over a top-10 foe as the Ducks outscored ASU 20-9 in the fourth quarter on their way to a 66-59 victory on Sunday.
Kianna Ibis scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Robbi Ryan added 12 points and three assists for the Sun Devils (19-9, 10-7 Pac-12), who were coming off a 66-54 win over No. 9 Oregon State on Friday night.
Reili Richardson, who came into the game No. 2 in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio, added seven more assists with only one turnover and also pulled down a career-high nine boards to lead ASU's rebounding effort. Ibis and Sophia Elenga also had strong performances on the glass, grabbing eight rebounds each. As a team, the Sun Devils were outrebounded for only the fifth time in 28 games this season.
"Obviously we knew it was going to come down to rebounding, and we did not get the job done on the boards, especially in the fourth quarter. That was the difference in the game." ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "We'll shore up a few things. We all know rebounding is what wins championships, and if we get that piece down then I think we're right there to make a good run in March."
Sabrina Ionescu (19 points), Satou Sabally (18 points) and Maite Cazorla (17 points) combined for 54 of the Ducks' points to help Oregon clinch its second consecutive outright Pac-12 regular season championship.
Trailing by six points early in the third quarter, the Sun Devils scored six straight points – layups by Ibis and Charnea Johnson-Chapman and a jumper by Ryan – to tie the score at 37-37.
Ibis scored five points during ASU's 7-0 run to end the quarter to put the Sun Devils up 50-46 entering the final frame.
The Ducks (27-3, 16-2) started the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run and went up by six after Cazorla's jumper gave Oregon a 58-52 advantage with 5:25 remaining.
Ibis came back with five straight points to get the Sun Devils back within a single point.
After Oregon extended its lead back to five points, Johnson-Chapman scored on a layup to get ASU back within a single-possession, 62-59 with 1:19 remaining. Unfortunately for ASU, it would get no closer as the Ducks scored the last four points to close out the win.
Both teams shot under 30 percent in the first quarter – Oregon: 27.8/ASU: 28.6 – as defenses ruled the first 10 minutes. Ryan knocked down a pair of triples and led the Sun Devils with six points, as they ended the period facing a 13-11 deficit.
The second quarter was a much different story with both teams hitting their shots at a higher rate of accuracy – Oregon 64 percent/ASU: 57 percent. Neither team enjoyed a lead of more than three points until the last seconds of the quarter when Oregon scored the last of four straight points in the final 1:08 to take a 33-29 lead into the locker room.
Ryan added four points in the quarter and led ASU with 10 points at the half. Ibis had five points and Jamie Ruden, who did not play in the last two games due to injury, had four points in the second quarter.
Sunday's game was the final at home for Sun Devil seniors Sophia Elenga, Courtney Ekmark, Kianna Ibis and Charnea Johnson-Chapman. The four-member class was honored in a ceremony after the game.
"This is always a really special day for us," Turner Thorne said. "We have four amazing seniors that we love to death and they have been so much more than just great basketball players for this program. It would've been nice to go out with a win, but all in all we just appreciate everybody coming out to celebrate, not just this team but them. This is their last game in Wells Fargo Arena, but it's not our last game and we're excited for postseason."
The Sun Devils were victorious in both of their contests against Colorado this season, defeating the Buffaloes 76-70 on Jan. 6 in Boulder and 66-49 on Feb. 15 in Tempe.
ASU's Pac-12 Tournament contest vs. Colorado on Thursday can be seen on Pac-12 Networks and heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060. A win over Colorado would advance ASU to Friday's quarterfinal round where it would face No. 4 seed/No. 25 UCLA at 11:30 a.m. PT/12:30 p.m. MT.