WHEN: Friday at 6 p.m. MST
WHERE: McKale Center • Tucson, Ariz.
TELEVISION: Pac-12 Network/Arizona/Pac-12 Now
RADIO: KDUS AM 1060
LIVE AUDIO: Sun Devil Athletics TuneIn Channel
LIVE STATS: Click here
UP NEXT
The No. 16 Arizona State women's basketball team plays the last of three consecutive road games on Friday (6 p.m. MST) when it travels to Tucson, Ariz., to take on No. 18 Arizona. Friday's game – the first one ever contested between the two teams in which both are ranked in the AP Top 25 – is a rematch of last month's contest won by Arizona, 58-53 in Tempe.
Winners of their last five games, the Sun Devils (15-4, 5-2 Pac-12) come into Friday's game in fourth place in the Pac-12, one-half game ahead of fifth-place/No. 7 Oregon State (16-2, 4-2) and one game ahead of sixth-place Arizona (15-3, 4-3). Three teams are currently tied for the top spot in the Pac-12: No. 4 Oregon (15-2, 5-1), No. 6 Stanford (16-2, 5-1) and No. 10 UCLA (16-1, 5-1). Four of ASU's next five games are rematches against teams currently sitting in the top half of the Pac-12 standings: at Arizona (Jan. 24), vs. UCLA (Feb. 2), at Oregon State (Feb. 7), at Oregon (Feb. 9).
It's been an interesting few weeks for the Sun Devils, who started league play with consecutive losses against ranked opponents – No. 18 Arizona and No. 10 UCLA – in contests that were up for grabs in the final minute. Enter what most deem to be the Pac-12's most devastating one-two punch among the league's six sets of travel partners: No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Oregon State. History suggested the best outcome ASU could hope for was a split since no unranked team had ever beaten consecutive AP Top 5 opponents. Charli Turner Thorne's Sun Devils begged to differ. By the end of the weekend it was the Sun Devils who made history of their own, defeating the Ducks 72-66 (Jan. 10) and OSU 55-47 (Jan. 12) to become the first unranked team to defeat back-to-back AP Top 5 opponents.
The Sun Devils followed up the dramatic weekend with a road sweep of the Washington schools: 67-50 at UW and 65-56 at WSU. Seniors Ja'Tavia Tapley (17.5 ppg), Robbi Ryan (14.0 ppg) and Reili Richardson (10.0 ppg) combined to average 41.5 ppg in the two wins. The Sun Devils trailed WSU by 10 late in the third quarter, but closed with a 31-12 run over the last 12:37. Tapley and Ryan tied for the team lead with 20 points each with Tapley accounting for 17 of her 20 points in the second half.
ASU's success this season has been the product of a team effort as the Sun Devils have had eight different players who have led/tied for the team lead in scoring. As has been the case in years past, the Sun Devils have been especially effective both on the defensive end (21st in the nation in scoring defense) and at controlling the boards (4th in the nation in offensive rebounds and 14th in rebounding margin).
TV/RADIO
Friday's game at Arizona will be televised by Pac-12 Network/Arizona (Cindy Brunson, Joan Bonvicini). The game can also be heard on KDUS AM 1060 and on the Sun Devil Athletics TuneIn Channel. Coverage will start at 6 p.m. Veteran broadcaster and the state of Arizona's 2010 and 2019 Broadcaster of the Year Jeff Munn is in his 16th season as the voice of ASU women's basketball. He will be joined by former Sun Devil head coach Maura McHugh.
SERIES NOTES VERSUS ARIZONA
The Sun Devils have won 28 of the last 34 meetings... Arizona's 58-53 win on Dec. 29 was its first in Tempe since 2000... ASU swept the season series in 2015, 2016 & 2018 and split with the Wildcats in 2017 and 2019... In addition to the two regular season wins in 2018 – 75-50 in Tempe and 69-45 in Tucson – ASU also recorded a 76-47 win over the Wildcats in the first round of the 2018 Pac-12 Tournament... Current ASU guard Robbi Ryan poured in a career-high 24 points in the 2018 win in Tempe.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• Head coach Charli Turner Thorne needs one more win for 500 in her career (459 in 23 seasons with ASU and 40 in three seasons with NAU).
• Senior G Robbi Ryan, who has averaged 13.3 points in the last 6 games, needs 19 points to reach 1,000 for her career. Five of Ryan's eight double-digit scoring efforts this season have come in the last eight games.
• On its current winning streak, ASU has had three games that were up for grabs heading to the fourth quarter: vs. UO 42-52, vs. OSU 39-32, at WSU 42-46. In the fourth quarter of those games ASU outscored the opposition 69-39, connected on 51 pct of its FGs (22-43), 55 pct of its 3FGs (6-11) and 95 pct of its FTs (19-20). On the other end, the opposition made only 30 pct of its FGs (14-47), 19 pct. of its 3FGs (3-16) and 57 pct. of its FTs (8-14).
• ASU comes into Friday's game ranked among the top 40 in the nation in O-rebs per game (4th/16.8 rpg), rebound margin (14th/+9.4), scoring defense (21st/55.1 ppg) and 3-point FG pct. defense (28th/26.6).
• ASU is ranked among the top third in the Pac-12 in O-rebs per game (1st/16.8 rpg), 3-point FG pct. defense (3rd/26.6), rebounding defense (3rd/32.5 rpg), scoring defense (3rd/55.1 ppg), rebounding margin (3rd/+9.4) and steals (4th/9.8 spg).
• ASU individual leaders in the Pac-12: F Ja'Tavia Tapley: 9th in rebs/7.1 rpg, 19th in scoring/12.5 ppg; G Reili Richardson: 15th in assists (3.0) F Jayde Van Hyfte: 2nd in O-rebs/3.5 rpg, 20th in rebs/6.0 rpg; F Eboni Walker: 7th in O-rebs/2.7 rpg; G Kiara Russell: t11th in steals (1.5 spg).
• Graduate transfer Tapley has proven to be a difference maker for ASU. Named the Ann Meyers Drysdale/espnW/Pac-12 Player of the Week earlier this month, Tapley has played in every game (17 starts) and currently leads the team in scoring (12.5 ppg), rebs (7.1) and FTs made (50) and attempted (79), is 2nd steals (1.4 spg), tied for 2nd in FG pct. (49.5) and 4th in assists (1.6 apg). Tapley's last 4 games: 16.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.8 spg, 50 pct FGs (25-50).
• Richardson is currently in 2nd place on ASU's all-time list for career assists (512). She needs 23 assists to pass Briann January and become ASU's all-time assists leader (534/2006-09).
• On average, ASU's bench has outscored the opponent's reserves 26.5-9.6. Top contributors include: senior F Jamie Ruden, who has averaged 7.0 ppg since returning from injury, freshman F Eboni Walker (6.2 ppg, 4.3 rpg), sophomore G Taya Hanson (5.0 ppg), freshman G Sara Bejedi (4.7 ppg) and sophomore G Iris Mbulito (4.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.4 apg).
• ASU has outrebounded all but three of its opponents (USC, Oregon, Oregon St.). It has scored 15 or more second chance points seven times, including a season-high 32 vs. Army. Van Hyfte (67 of 114) and Walker (52 of 82) both have more offensive than defensive rebounds.
• ASU has allowed 13 or fewer points in quarter 37x (15x in single-digits).
• ASU has scored 20 or more points off turnovers nine times (9-0 in those games), including a season-high 36 vs. Army (Nov. 10).
• In its last nine games, ASU has averaged 11.0 turnovers per game, 4.9 fewer turnovers than it averaged in its first 10 games (15.9). Richardson has 27 assists and only nine turnovers during that stretch.
• Through seven games of Pac-12 play ASU is shooting 6.3 percentage points higher from the FT line (71.6) than it did in the first 12 games (65.3). Richardson has made her last 21 FTs, including 10-10 in the final minute to seal ASU's wins over Oregon (4-4) and Oregon State (6-6).
POLLS
Both the coaches and media picked ASU to finish fifth in the Pac-12. ASU was ranked 20th in the preseason AP poll and 18th in the USA Today Sports Coaches Poll. ASU moved up one spot to 19th in the AP poll after opening with a pair of double-digit wins over Air Force and Army. It fell out of both polls after its 80-66 setback at Minnesota on Nov. 17. It returned to the polls on Jan. 13 (18th in AP/19th in coaches) following its upsets over No. 2 Oregon (Jan. 10) and No. 3 Oregon State (Jan. 12). ASU moved up to 16th (Jan. 20) in both polls after sweeping the Washington schools on the road.
TAPLEY EARNS NUMEROUS HONORS AFTER ASU'S HISTORICAL WEEKEND
Arizona State women's basketball senior forward Ja'Tavia Tapley was named the Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's Player of the Week after her performances in ASU's upset wins over No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Oregon State earlier this month. Tapley, who was also named the espnW National Player of the Week and Pac-12 Women's Basketball Player of the Week, led ASU in scoring (15.0 ppg), rebounds (6.0 rpg) and field goal percentage (48.0) in the two wins. She scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds in Friday's win over Oregon. Two days later, Tapley led all players with 14 points and six more rebounds in ASU's win over No. 3 Oregon State. In addition to her accomplishments on the offensive end, Tapley was part of an ASU defensive effort that held the Ducks and their top-ranked offense 23.5 points below their scoring average and kept the Beavers nearly 30 points below their scoring average of 76.5 points coming into the game.
SENIOR MOMENTS
ASU seniors Reili Richardson (16 points), Robbi Ryan (15 points), Ja'Tavia Tapley (eight points) and Jamie Ruden (seven points) were responsible for scoring all 46 of ASU's fourth-quarter points in its historic upsets of No. 2 Oregon (Jan. 10) and No. 3 Oregon State (Jan. 12). Ryan scored 11 of her team-high 17 points in the final period of the win over UO. Ruden added seven straight points late in the same quarter. Ruden also set the tone in the first quarter of the OSU win with seven straight to help ASU to a 13-4 lead. Tapley had six points in the final frame vs. OSU. In last week's win at Washington State (Jan. 19), Ryan and Tapley tied for the team lead with 20 points each. In the second half, Sun Devil seniors were responsible for 39 of the team's 41 second half points in helping ASU rally from a 10-point deficit.
REILI RICHARDSON GUIDES NEAR FLAWLESS ATTACK
One of the biggest reasons for ASU's outstanding execution on the offensive end over the last three seasons is the play of senior guard Reili Richardson. In 2018, Richardson's exceptional play at the point helped the Sun Devils shatter the school record for fewest turnovers per game (11.3). Richardson concluded the 2017-18 season ranked No. 4 in the nation and first in the Pac-12 in assist-to-TO ratio (3.46). Last season Richardson finished No. 4 in the nation and No. 1 in the Pac-12 in assist-to-turnover ratio and led the team and finished 6th in the Pac-12 in assists (5.0 apg). Richardson is currently in second place on ASU's all-time list for career assists (512). She needs 23 assists to pass Briann January (534/2006-09) and become ASU's all-time assists leader. As effective as she has been as a distributor, Richardson has been just as effective scoring the basketball. She ignited ASU's comeback in its win over BYU (Dec. 6), scoring 12 of her (then) season-high 15 points in the 3rd quarter after ASU fell behind by 12 points. Against New Mexico (Dec. 14), Richardson established new career highs for scoring (21 points) and 3-pointers (5). During ASU's six-game winning streak last month, Richardson averaged 10.3 ppg & connected on 42 percent (14-33) of her 3-ptrs. In ASU's 72-66 of No. 2 Oregon, Richardson scored 10 of her 12 points in the final quarter. She scored all 11 of her points in the fourth quarter of ASU's comeback win at Washington State (Jan. 19).
DOMINANT DEVIL DEFENSE
• Last season ASU led the Pac-12 in scoring defense (58.2 ppg) for the second straight season and the third time in five years.
• ASU has allowed an average of only 56.7 ppg since the start of the 2014-15 season (a span of 188 games). It has held the opposition to 50 or less points 60 times during that stretch (including six times this season). They are 59-1 in those contests. The only loss came at home to Cal (50-49) on Feb. 8, 2015. Over that same stretch (188 games), ASU has allowed the opposition to make only 28.6 percent of its attempts from long range.
• As of Jan. 21st, ASU is 21st in the nation in scoring defense (55.1 ppg). It has allowed 13 or fewer points in quarter 37x this season (15x in single-digits).
• The 31 points scored by Maine on Nov. 29, 2019 represented the fewest given up by ASU since Harvard scored 29 on December 14, 2015.
• In historical back-to-back wins vs. No. 2 Oregon (Jan. 10) and No. 3 Oregon State (Jan. 12), ASU held the Ducks and their top-ranked offense 23.5 points below their scoring average and kept the Beavers nearly 30 points below their scoring average of 76.5 points coming into the game. The two teams combined to shoot 18 percent (7-38) from the beyond the arc.
• Outstanding team defense helped ASU make the greatest comeback in school history last season. Against Utah on Feb. 17, 2019, ASU held the Utes to only 3 points in the 4th quarter allowing the Sun Devils to rally from 18 down with a 20-0 run in the last 7:45 to win 60-58.