WHAT: No. 22 Sun Devil WBB (9-3, 0-1 Pac-12) at Utah (12-0, 1-0 Pac-12)
WHEN: Friday at 7 p.m. MT
WHERE: Huntsman Center • Salt Lake City, Utah
TELEVISION: Pac-12 Arizona/Mountain
RADIO: NBC Sports Radio AM 1060/TuneIn
LIVE STATS: https://utahutes.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary
UP NEXT
The No. 22 Arizona State women's basketball team (9-3, 0-1 Pac-12) continues its three-game road swing to start Pac-12 play on Friday (7 p.m. MT) when it faces unbeaten Utah (12-0, 1-0 Pac-12) in Salt Lake City.
The Sun Devils will be looking to even their mark in the Pac-12 standings after having their seven-game winning streak snapped in last Sunday's conference opener at Arizona. 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. The Sun Devils will conclude the stretch of road games on Sunday at Colorado before returning home to face No. 6 Stanford (Fri., Jan. 11) and No. 18 Cal (Sun., Jan. 13).
Before last Sunday's loss the Sun Devils had won their previous seven games by an average of 25.9 points. The Sun Devils split 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 – before the ensuing succession of wins.
Top 25 national rankings in rebound margin (No. 14), field goal percentage (No. 15) and 3-point FG percentage (No. 17) have helped carry the Utes to 12 straight wins to open the season. This is the first of two games the Sun Devils and Utes will play this season with the rematch scheduled for Sun., Feb. 17 in Tempe.
LAST GAME
The Sun Devils had their seven-game winning streak snapped in a 51-39 loss at Arizona on Sunday. ASU never led in the game and was not able to find a way to consistently score as it combined to record 15 points in the middle two quarters. Kianna Ibis (11 points) and Kiara Russell (eight points) combined for 19 points for the Sun Devils, who shot 23 percent for the game, including 17 percent (4-23) from long range. Sunday's game was only the third in 12 games in which the Sun Devils had more turnovers (17) than assists (10). The Sun Devils were plus-eight on the boards with Ibis (seven rebounds), Courtney Ekmark (five rebounds) and Sophia Elenga (four rebounds), leading the way. Trailing by seven points, 27-20, at the half, the Sun Devils were not able to draw closer than five points over the final 20 minutes.
COVERAGE
Friday's game can be seen on Pac-12 Arizona/Mountain (Krista Blunk/Joan Bonvicini). 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 6:30 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
After occupying the No. 17 spot in the AP poll for four straight weeks, ASU dropped five spots to No. 22 in this week's rankings. ASU is also No. 22 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
• ASU is currently ranked among the nation's top 25 in... scoring defense (10th/52.1 ppg), assist-to-turnover ratio (14th/1.44), rebounding margin (20th/+10.3) , fewest turnovers per game (21st/13.2), and assists per game (25th/17.5).
• ASU's recent seven-game winning streak represented the 24th time since 2004 that it has had a winning streak of five or more games. The string of wins was the program's longest since it tied the school record with 15 straight in 2015-16. During the winning streak ASU... Outscored the opposition by an average of 25.9 points (72.0-46.1)... Shot 47.0 percent, including 38.1 percent from long range... Averaged 18.9 assists and only 12.4 turnovers... Allowed its opponents to shoot only 34.3 percent... Was +14.4 on the boards... Guards Reili Richardson (36 assists/seven turnovers) and Kiara Russell (21 assists/seven turnovers) combined for 57 assists and only 14 turnovers during the winning streak. The duo combined to shoot 57 percent (24-42) during the same stretch. Richardson is No. 9 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio.
• ASU has held the opposition to 12 or fewer points in a quarter 22x this season (single digits 14x) and outrebounded the opposition in all but one game (vs. Baylor).
• Courtney Ekmark led ASU in scoring (13.0 ppg) and knocked down 42 percent (20-48) of her 3-pointers during ASU's recent seven-game winning streak. 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 (32-55/58.2) and Charnea Johnson-Chapman (27-51/52.9) have combined to shoot 55.7 percent (59-106) 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, 29.1-11.7.
SERIES NOTES VERSUS UTAH
ASU's eight-game winning streak over Utah was snapped after the Utes edged ASU 58-56 on Jan. 19, 2018 in Tempe. ASU won the front end of last season's series 83-81 in Salt Lake City. Kianna Ibis had one of the best offensive days turned in by a Sun Devil in recent memory as she scored a career-high 30 points. Ibis became the first Sun Devils to score 30 or more points since Kylan Loney accomplished the feat vs. Arizona on January 31, 2004.
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 regular-season, 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 – 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. 11, but in the end the Bears were able to outlast the Sun Devils, 65-59. 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.
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 56.2 points per game since the start of the 2014-15 season (148 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 non-conference 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.