Sweet Sixteen Bound! @SunDevilWBB Wins at Miami 57-55

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Robbi Ryan hit two free throws with five seconds left and the Sun Devil women's basketball team (22-10) topped host Miami 57-55 Sunday night, giving ASU its fifth Sweet Sixteen appearance under Coach Charli Turner Thorne (also in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2015).

The Sun Devils advance to next week's regional round where they will face either No. 1 seed Mississippi State or No. 9 Clemson on Friday (time TBA) at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore. Miami was 17-2 at home entering the game, tied for the second-most home wins in school history.

ASU was down by as many as eight in the second half, as Jamie Ruden came off the bench to score a team-high 10 for the Sun Devils. ASU came into the NCAA Tournament ranked among the best in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (14th), and it committed just seven while forcing 15. ASU's depth provided 29 points off the bench, with Miami getting only seven. A year after setting the school record for fewest turnovers per game (11.7), ASU had 10 or fewer turnover for the tenth time on the year.

Arizona State had two shots for the lead -- one a 3-pointer by Ryan, the other a putback try by Sophia Elenga -- miss, and Miami grabbed the rebound off the second of those with 10.2 seconds remaining. But ASU stole the inbounds pass, and Ryan wound up making a pair of free throws after being fouled heading to the hoop.

Arizona State started out with a 9-2 lead, but went into the break down 28-26 after Endia Banks' jumper for Miami with 16 seconds left in the half.

Miami's defense helped extend the lead a bit to open the third. The Hurricanes held Arizona State scoreless for the first 4:08 of the third quarter, pushing the lead out to 34-26 before Courtney Ekmark's 3-pointer ended the Sun Devils' drought.

Tickets for Friday's Sweet 16 game in Portland will go on sale Monday at noon. To purchase call the Sun Devil ticket office at 480-727-0000 or go to www.sundeviltickets.com.

NOTES: The Sun Devils are 4-0 all-time against Miami – winning by four, two, four and two points – and used the same starting lineup for the 61st consecutive game, dating to last season...Ekmark's two three-pointers gave her 66 for the season, second-best in Arizona State history. ... The timing of Johnson-Chapman getting shaken up was fortunate for Arizona State. She started the second half after getting treated at the break, so she missed only the 0.9 seconds of game time.

1 OF 11: Arizona State is one of 11 schools with wins in both the NCAA men's and women's tournaments this season. The others: Baylor, Buffalo, Florida State, Gonzaga, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and Oregon.

SWEET 16 BOUND?? pic.twitter.com/SBlekn2NnI

— Sun Devil WBB (@SunDevilWBB) March 25, 2019