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No. 21 @SunDevilWBB Concludes Regular Season With Pair of Top 10 Foes

03.01.19 - vs. Oregon State game notes Opens in a new window
No. 21 @SunDevilWBB Concludes Regular Season With Pair of Top 10 FoesNo. 21 @SunDevilWBB Concludes Regular Season With Pair of Top 10 Foes
Sun Devil Athletics
WHAT: No. 21 Sun Devil WBB (18-8, 9-6 Pac-12) vs. No. 9 Oregon State (23-5, 13-3 Pac-12)
WHEN: Friday at 6 p.m. MT 
WHERE: Wells Fargo Arena • Tempe, Ariz.
TELEVISION: Pac-12 Network/Arizona/Oregon
RADIO: NBC Sports Radio AM 1060/TuneIn
LIVE STATS: Click here
PROMOTION: Friday's game against Oregon State is the program's annual PACK THE HOUSE game.  Tickets are just $3 with promo code PACK. On Sunday, kids eighth grade and younger receive free admission to the game.
PURCHASE TICKETS: Click here

UP NEXT

The No. 21 Arizona State women's basketball team closes out regular season play this weekend when it hosts No. 9 Oregon State (Friday at 6 p.m. MT) and No. 6 Oregon (Sunday at 1 p.m. MT). This weekend's games will be the final at home for Sun Devil seniors Courtney Ekmark, Sophia Elenga, Kianna Ibis and Charnea Johnson-Chapman. The quartet will be honored in a ceremony after Sunday's game vs. Oregon.

After dropping consecutive games for the first time this season, the Sun Devils (18-8, 9-6 Pac-12) slipped into fifth place in the Pac-12 standings. In order to claim the fourth and final first round bye in next week's Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas – byes are awarded to the top four teams in the final regular season standings – the Sun Devils must pass No. 25 UCLA. The Bruins (17-11, 10-6) are one-half game ahead of ASU with two games remaining (UCLA hosts Utah on Friday and Colorado on Sunday). ASU is also one-half game ahead of sixth-place Utah (20-7, 9-7).

Friday's game against Oregon State (23-5, 13-3) is the second of ASU's three straight assignments against Top 10 teams to end the regular season. The Sun Devils started the sequence with a 71-50 loss at No. 7 Stanford (23-4, 13-3) last Sunday. They will end it with Sunday's Senior Day game against first-place Oregon (25-3, 14-2), who enters the weekend leading Stanford and Oregon State by one game. 

Kianna Ibis scored 21 of her season-high 28 points in the second half and overtime to help ASU to a 79-76, double-OT win over the Beavers in the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 20. Ibis also posted season highs in rebounds (13) and shot blocks (3) while Reili Richardson scored 10 of her season-high 16 points in the two overtime periods to help the Sun Devils earn their first win over a Top 10 opponent this season. After shooting 36 percent (16-44) through the first three quarters, the Sun Devils closed the game by knocking down 67 percent (14-21) of their shots over the last 20 minutes (fourth quarter and two overtimes), including 88 percent (7-8) in the two overtime periods.

LAST WEEK

For the first time this season the Sun Devils dropped consecutive contests, falling 69-60 at Cal on Friday (snapped a five-game winning streak) and 71-50 at No. 7 Stanford on Sunday. ASU led Cal by as many as 12 in the first half and were within three points with 4:12 remaining before the Bears scored seven straight to extend their lead to 10. Against Stanford, the Sun Devils were within five early in the third quarter before the Cardinal used runs of 8-0 and 13-0 to go up 50-28. Courtney Ekmark averaged 10.0 points in the two games to lead ASU. Ekmark came one rebound short of a double-double at Cal.

COVERAGE

Friday's game can be seen on Pac-12 Network/Arizona/Oregon (Cindy Brunson/Tammy Blackburn/Jill Savage). It can also be heard on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 and on the Sun Devil Sports Network's TuneIn Channel. Veteran broadcaster and the state of Arizona's 2010 and 2018 Broadcaster of the Year Jeff Munn is in his 15th season as the voice of ASU women's basketball. He will be joined by former Sun Devil head coach Maura McHugh.

RANKINGS/RPI/BRACKETOLGY

• After last week's losses at Cal/Stanford, the Sun Devils fell four spots in the AP poll (No. 21) and five spots in the coaches poll (20th).

• The Sun Devils have bounced between 13th and 20th in the NCAA RPI since defeating then-unbeaten Utah on Jan. 4. They were listed at No. 19 on Feb. 26. 

• ESPN.com's Charlie Creme has the Sun Devils listed as a No. 8 seed in his most recent Bracketology update on Feb. 25. Between Jan. 28-Feb. 19 he had ASU listed as a No. 5 seed. He had ASU as a No. 3 seed on Jan. 21, prior to ASU's loss vs. UCLA (Jan. 25).

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

• As of Feb. 25, ASU is ranked among the nation's top 35 in fewest TOs per game (12h/12.2), assist-TO ratio (19th/1.30) and rebound margin (32nd/+6.7).

• Senior All-Pac-12 post Kianna Ibis has scored in double figures in all but 4 games this season. In Pac-12 games she is among the top 15 in the league in scoring (15.4 ppg/15th) and rebounds (7.2 rpg/10th). Ibis, who has scored 20 or more points 6x this season, averaged 16.0 ppg/8.2 rpg during ASU's recent 5-game winning streak.

• Currently No. 2 on the team in scoring (10.3 ppg), senior G Courtney Ekmark has knocked down 3 or more 3-pointers 9x this season. She is currently tied for 9th on ASU's career 3-pointers list with 109.

• Junior G Reili Richardson is No. 3 in the nation and leads the Pac-12 in assist-to-TO ratio. Currently with 410 career assists, Richardson is in 4th place on ASU's all-time list for career assists. She needs 32 more for 3rd place (441/Jodi Rathbun – 1983-86), 73 more for 2nd place (483/Elisha Davis – 2013-16) and 125 more to surpass current assistant coach Briann January (534/2006-09) for the top spot. 

• ASU has held opposition to 12 or fewer points in a quarter 34x this season (single digits 19x) and outrebounded the opposition all but 3x (vs. Baylor/vs. Cal/vs. UCLA). 

• ASU has had 6 different players lead/tie for team lead in scoring: Ibis (12x), Ekmark (10x), Elenga (2x), Richardson (2x), Ruden (1x), and Johnson-Chapman (1x).

• ASU has knocked down 8 or more 3-pointers 7x, something it did 4x last season.

• ASU has had 10 or fewer turnovers 8x this season.

• ASU has had the same starting lineup – Richardson/Ryan/Ekmark/Ibis/Johnson-Chapman – in its last 55 games (going back to Nov. 25, 2017).

• ASU's bench has more than doubled opponents in points per game, 24.8-11.5. 

• ASU is 5-2 this season in games decided by 5 points or less. It prevailed in its first road game at Arkansas 88-85 (Nov. 18). ASU came up short in its upset bid of No. 3 Louisville as the Cardinals scored in the final seconds to escape with a 58-56 win at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout (Nov. 23). ASU overcame a six-point deficit with an 8-0 run in the final 80 seconds of its 65-63 win at Utah (Jan. 4). ASU came up with a pair of defensive stops in the final seconds in its 62-61 win over Cal (Jan. 13). On Jan. 20 ASU went to 2OTs to upset then-No. 10 Oregon State, 79-76 in Corvallis. On Jan. 25 UCLA hit a 3-pointer with nine seconds left and the Sun Devils fell at home, 61-59. On Feb. 17, the Sun Devils closed with a 20-0 run over the last 7:45 of regulation to erase an 18-point deficit and defeat the Utah 60-58.

• Four of ASU's six contests vs. Top 10 teams were decided final minutes or OT. ASU nearly pulled off upsets over then-No. 4 Baylor (L, 59-65), then-No. 5 Louisville (L, 56-58), and then-No. 5 Oregon (L, 71-77) losing the three games by a combined 14 points. On Jan. 20 ASU broke through with a 79-76 2OT win at then-No. 10 Oregon State.

NOTES VERSUS OREGON STATE

• ASU has won 24 of its last 33 meetings against OSU, but the Beavers have gotten the better of it recently with wins in seven of the last nine meetings. ASU's 57-51 win in the Pac-12 quarterfinals last March snapped OSU's streak of seven straight wins. Courtney Ekmark (game-high 18 points, 5-7 3-point FGs), Kianna Ibis (14 points, career-high 14 rebounds) and Robbi Ryan (12 points, 4-8 FGs/4-4 FTs) combined to score 44 of ASU's 57 points in the game, including 26 of the team's 31 points in the second half. The Beavers won 57-54 on Jan. 12 in Corvallis and 64-60 on Feb. 25 in Tempe to sweep last year's regular season series.       

SNOW DAY

• ASU will play only 17 Pac-12 games this season after having its contest at Washington (scheduled for Feb. 9) canceled due to inclement weather that was forecast in Seattle. The last time ASU played only six games in the month of February – the number it will end up playing – was 1985-86, the year before the start of the Pac-10/12 era for women's basketball.