THE GAME: Sun Devil WBB (6-4) vs. Prairie View A&M (3-6)
WHEN: Saturday at 2 p.m. MST
WHERE: Desert Financial Arena • Tempe, Ariz.
LIVE STREAM: Live Stream
RADIO: KDUS AM 1060
LIVE STATS: Click here
UP NEXT
The Sun Devil women's basketball team (6-4) closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule on Saturday (2 p.m. MST) when it hosts Prairie View A&M (3-6).
Saturday's contest will be ASU's Black Excellence & Teddy Bear Toss game. The Black Excellence series aims to provide student-athletes with educational opportunities focused on social justice and anti-racism to encourage civic engagement and leadership. The game is also the return of the always popular Teddy Bear Toss. In the spirit of giving during the holiday season, be sure to bring a bear to toss onto the court at halftime. All items will be donated to charity.
INJURIES TAKING THEIR TOLL
In their most recent contest, a 75-60 loss at SFA last Sunday, the Sun Devils had nearly as many players in uniform (eight) as players who were not suited up (six). The latter group was comprised of injured players.
On the last day of November, the Sun Devils found themselves with a 6-1 record after they overcame an 11-point, fourth-quarter deficit in their dramatic 80-72 win at Grand Canyon. Now, more than halfway into December, the Sun Devils are still searching for win No. 7.
In the loss at SFA, the aforementioned numbers game – as in ASU's number of healthy players – once again played a major factor in the outcome. At the start of the month, ASU had eight players who were averaging double figures in minutes. And that number did not include junior center Imogen Greenslade and freshman forward Journey Thompson, two players who were gradually seeing increased playing time.
In recent games, the talented depth that was a major factor in the team's success has been dramatically reduced due to an unlucky spate of injuries/illness. In their loss vs. Missouri (Dec. 4), the Sun Devils were without junior guard Jaddan Simmons (the team's second-leading scorer), senior guard Isadora Sousa (averaged seven rebounds in her three most recent outings in addition to providing the team with an important defensive presence) and freshman forward Thompson (after accounting for six points, four rebounds and one block in the win at GCU, Thompson was coming off her first career double-double vs. UMass on Dec. 2).
At SFA, Simmons was back in the lineup but Greenslade was not available in addition to the other players who missed the game against Missouri. Thus, for the second straight game, ASU had seven players who accounted for nearly all the minutes. Just like in its loss to Missouri, ASU looked every bit the team that had won six of its first seven games – for the first 20 minutes. The final result? Just like against Missouri, fresher bodies enabled the opposition to outscore and out rebound ASU.
Junior guard Tyi Skinner continued to lead ASU's offense as the junior guard finished with a game-high 22 points, her sixth game scoring over 20 points this season.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• After playing nine games over the first 27 days of the season (Nov. 7 - Dec. 4), the Sun Devils are currently in a stretch in which they are playing two games in 23 days (Dec. 5 - Dec. 28).
• The next time ASU returns to the hardwood after Saturday's game will be on Dec. 29 when it starts Pac-12 play at Arizona. The Sun Devils will then travel to the Bay Area where they will play at Stanford (Dec. 31) and at Cal (Jan. 2). In addition to contending with three consecutive road games to start conference play, in the bigger picture the game at Cal will be the culmination of what would be a challenging assignment for any team: playing nine of 14 games on the road to 'start' the season.
• As of Dec. 15, Skinner is 13th in the nation and third in the Pac-12 in scoring (21.0 ppg) and tied for No. 1 in the Pac-12 with Alissa Pili of Utah and Charisma Osborne of UCLA for number of 20-point games (6).
• Skinner and fellow junior guard Jaddan Simmons have both scored in double figures in every game they have played in. Simmons is ninth in the Pac-12 in scoring (14.6 ppg).
• Prior to its current three-game losing streak, the Sun Devils reeled off five wins in as many games for the program's best start since 2002-03, ASU has since dropped four of five contests, a sequence that started with an 85-65 loss to current-No. 5 Notre Dame (Nov. 26) at the Goombay Splash in Bimini, Bahamas. The Sun Devils led the Irish by three points at the half and were tied with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter before Notre Dame used a 12-2 run to gain control of the game on its way to the win.
WHEN: Saturday at 2 p.m. MST
WHERE: Desert Financial Arena • Tempe, Ariz.
LIVE STREAM: Live Stream
RADIO: KDUS AM 1060
LIVE STATS: Click here
UP NEXT
The Sun Devil women's basketball team (6-4) closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule on Saturday (2 p.m. MST) when it hosts Prairie View A&M (3-6).
Saturday's contest will be ASU's Black Excellence & Teddy Bear Toss game. The Black Excellence series aims to provide student-athletes with educational opportunities focused on social justice and anti-racism to encourage civic engagement and leadership. The game is also the return of the always popular Teddy Bear Toss. In the spirit of giving during the holiday season, be sure to bring a bear to toss onto the court at halftime. All items will be donated to charity.
INJURIES TAKING THEIR TOLL
In their most recent contest, a 75-60 loss at SFA last Sunday, the Sun Devils had nearly as many players in uniform (eight) as players who were not suited up (six). The latter group was comprised of injured players.
On the last day of November, the Sun Devils found themselves with a 6-1 record after they overcame an 11-point, fourth-quarter deficit in their dramatic 80-72 win at Grand Canyon. Now, more than halfway into December, the Sun Devils are still searching for win No. 7.
In the loss at SFA, the aforementioned numbers game – as in ASU's number of healthy players – once again played a major factor in the outcome. At the start of the month, ASU had eight players who were averaging double figures in minutes. And that number did not include junior center Imogen Greenslade and freshman forward Journey Thompson, two players who were gradually seeing increased playing time.
In recent games, the talented depth that was a major factor in the team's success has been dramatically reduced due to an unlucky spate of injuries/illness. In their loss vs. Missouri (Dec. 4), the Sun Devils were without junior guard Jaddan Simmons (the team's second-leading scorer), senior guard Isadora Sousa (averaged seven rebounds in her three most recent outings in addition to providing the team with an important defensive presence) and freshman forward Thompson (after accounting for six points, four rebounds and one block in the win at GCU, Thompson was coming off her first career double-double vs. UMass on Dec. 2).
At SFA, Simmons was back in the lineup but Greenslade was not available in addition to the other players who missed the game against Missouri. Thus, for the second straight game, ASU had seven players who accounted for nearly all the minutes. Just like in its loss to Missouri, ASU looked every bit the team that had won six of its first seven games – for the first 20 minutes. The final result? Just like against Missouri, fresher bodies enabled the opposition to outscore and out rebound ASU.
Junior guard Tyi Skinner continued to lead ASU's offense as the junior guard finished with a game-high 22 points, her sixth game scoring over 20 points this season.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• After playing nine games over the first 27 days of the season (Nov. 7 - Dec. 4), the Sun Devils are currently in a stretch in which they are playing two games in 23 days (Dec. 5 - Dec. 28).
• The next time ASU returns to the hardwood after Saturday's game will be on Dec. 29 when it starts Pac-12 play at Arizona. The Sun Devils will then travel to the Bay Area where they will play at Stanford (Dec. 31) and at Cal (Jan. 2). In addition to contending with three consecutive road games to start conference play, in the bigger picture the game at Cal will be the culmination of what would be a challenging assignment for any team: playing nine of 14 games on the road to 'start' the season.
• As of Dec. 15, Skinner is 13th in the nation and third in the Pac-12 in scoring (21.0 ppg) and tied for No. 1 in the Pac-12 with Alissa Pili of Utah and Charisma Osborne of UCLA for number of 20-point games (6).
• Skinner and fellow junior guard Jaddan Simmons have both scored in double figures in every game they have played in. Simmons is ninth in the Pac-12 in scoring (14.6 ppg).
• Prior to its current three-game losing streak, the Sun Devils reeled off five wins in as many games for the program's best start since 2002-03, ASU has since dropped four of five contests, a sequence that started with an 85-65 loss to current-No. 5 Notre Dame (Nov. 26) at the Goombay Splash in Bimini, Bahamas. The Sun Devils led the Irish by three points at the half and were tied with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter before Notre Dame used a 12-2 run to gain control of the game on its way to the win.