WHEN: Sunday at 1 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
PURCHASE TICKETS: Click here
UP NEXT
The No. 21 Arizona State women's basketball team closes out regular season play on Sunday (1 p.m.) when it hosts No. 6 Oregon at Wells Fargo Arena. The contest 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.
After dropping consecutive games for the first time this season, the Sun Devils (19-8, 10-6 Pac-12) responded with one of their best outings of the season in Friday night's 66-54 win over No. 9 Oregon State. Ibis scored 16 of her game-high 20 points in the second half to lead the way offensively for ASU. The Sun Devils took control of the game with a 24-3 run over the last 4:38 of the second quarter and the first 4:44 of the third quarter to claim their first regular season sweep over the Beavers since the 2010-11 season. Ibis (eight rebounds) and Johnson-Chapman (six points, 12 rebounds, career-high four assists) combined for 20 boards in helping the Sun Devils outrebound the Beavers 38-25. Reili Richardson, who came into the game No. 3 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, dished out seven assists with zero turnovers to go with eight points and three steals.
ASU enters Sunday's game in fifth place in the Pac-12. 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 (18-11, 11-6) are one-half game ahead of ASU with only Sunday's games remaining to be played (UCLA hosts Colorado at the same time as ASU vs. Oregon). If the combination of an ASU win/UCLA loss does not happen on Sunday then ASU will open play at the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday.
Sunday's game against Oregon (26-3, 15-2) is the last of ASU's three straight assignments against Top 10 teams to end the regular season. The Ducks claimed at least a share of their second consecutive Pac-12 regular season championship after their 83-54 win at Arizona on Friday.
Sunday's game is also a rematch of Oregon's 77-71 win in Eugene on Jan. 18. Ibis scored 22 points to lead the Sun Devils, who got within a point of Oregon twice in the final minutes after trailing by as many as 13 in the third quarter and by 11 with under seven minutes left in the game. Jamie Ruden added 12 points while Johnson-Chapman (10 points, nine rebounds) scored all 10 of her points in the second half and came within a rebound of a double-double. The Sun Devils held Oregon 14 points below its scoring average, outrebounded the Ducks 36-31 and turned the ball over only six times while piling up 18 assists. Richardson (game-high six assists, zero TOs), Ekmark (three assists, zero TOs) and Kiara Russell (three assists, one TO) combined for 12 assists and only one turnover.
With a win on Sunday, ASU would set a new school record for consecutive 20-win seasons (six).
COVERAGE
Sunday's game can be seen on Pac-12 Network/Arizona/Oregon (Krista Blunk/Mary Murphy/Jill Savage). 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 12:30 p.m. 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. 15 on Mar. 2.
• ESPN.com's Charlie Creme had 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 (13th/12.2), assist-TO ratio (16th/1.29) and rebound margin (28th/+7.0).
• 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 (15.7 ppg/14th) and rebounds (7.3 rpg/10th). Ibis, who has scored 20 or more points 7x 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 9th on ASU's career 3-pointers list with 110.
• Junior G Reili Richardson is No. 2 in the nation and leads the Pac-12 in assist-to-TO ratio. Currently with 417 career assists, Richardson is in 4th place on ASU's all-time list for career assists. She needs 25 more for 3rd place (441/Jodi Rathbun – 1983-86), 66 more for 2nd place (483/Elisha Davis – 2013-16) and 118 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 35x this season (single digits 20x) 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 (13x), 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 56 games (going back to Nov. 25, 2017).
• ASU's bench has more nearly doubled opponents in points per game, 23.6-11.9.
• 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
• ASU has won 27 of the 35 meetings since the 2000-01 season. Most recently they have won nine of the last 13 meetings, including a series sweep in 2015 (70-58 in Tempe and 72-52 in Eugene), a 63-58 win in Eugene in 2016 and a 68-63 win in Tempe in 2017. Oregon's 74-64 win in Eugene last year ended ASU's four-game winning streak in the series. The Ducks would go on to sweep the season series with a 57-44 win in Tempe, the fewest points Oregon scored in a game in 2017-18. Kianna Ibis (17.5 ppg) and Courtney Ekmark (10.5 ppg) both averaged double figures in scoring in last season's contests. Charnea Johnson-Chapman pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds in the second meeting.