Sun Devil WBB concludes road trip at Cal on Monday

THE GAME:  Sun Devil WBB (7-6, 0-2 Pac-12) at Cal (9-4, 0-2 Pac-12)
WHEN: Monday at 12 p.m. PST/1 p.m. MST
WHERE: Haas Pavilion • Tucson, Ariz.
TV: Pac-12 Arizona 
RADIO: KDUS AM 1060
LIVE STATS: Click here
 
UP NEXT
The Sun Devil women's basketball team (7-6, 0-2 Pac-12), concludes its three-game road trip in five days to open Pac-12 play on Monday afternoon (12 p.m. PST/1 p.m. MST) when it plays at Cal (9-4, 0-2). 
 
ASU started its current sequence of games with an 84-66 loss at No. 18 Arizona on Thursday. Forty-eight hours later, it found itself in Maples Pavilion for a contest at No. 2 Stanford. Despite knocking down a season high-tying nine triples for the second consecutive game, ASU fell 101-69.    
 
Monday's contest at Cal is the culmination of what would be a challenging assignment for any team, no matter its situation: playing nine of 14 games away from home to 'start' the season. 
 
Without question, first-year head coach Natasha Adair and the Sun Devils will welcome the more structured pace of conference play – two games per week with the exceptions of the current opening week and a one-game week next month – after the start-and-stop, irregular frequency of contests that punctuated its non-conference schedule. ASU played nine games over the first 27 days of the season (Nov. 7 - Dec. 4). They followed that with a stretch in which they played two games in 23 days (Dec. 5 - Dec. 28) and are now about to complete the difficult sequence of three road games in five days to start Pac-12 play.  
 
If the Pac-12's current ranked teams maintain their Top 25 status over the next few weeks, ASU will be facing a ranked opponent in five of its first eight league games: #18 Arizona (at Dec. 29 & vs. Jan. 22), at No. 2 Stanford (Dec. 31), vs. No. 17 Oregon (Jan. 6) and at No. 11 Utah (Jan. 13).
 
Relatively speaking for this season, ASU will have a rare scheduling advantage after Monday's game in which it will play five of its next seven games at Desert Financial Arena, a stretch that will conclude with a rematch vs. Arizona on Jan. 22.
 
SERIES NOTES 
• ASU has faced Cal more than any other team since 2005-06 (33x - ASU 18-15). That stretch includes six meetings in the Pac-12 Tournament, most recently in the first round of the 2020 edition, a contest won by Cal 71-67.  
• ASU has won eight of the last 13 meetings. 
• In 2021, ASU defeated Cal on New Year's Day, 56-53. The game was delayed 3.5 hours from its original start time of 3 p.m. out of precaution due to COVID-19 safety guidelines. Cal won the rematch 67-55 in Berkeley.
• Covid protocols prevented Cal from hosting ASU in the only scheduled contest of the season between the two teams (Jan. 30, 2022). Aircraft issues prevented ASU from flying back to the Bay Area in an attempt to make up the game in mid-February. Thus, Monday's contest will be the first meeting between the two teams in nearly two years.
 
IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THE NAME TYI SKINNER YET... GET READY
Junior guard Tyi Skinner, who transferred to ASU from Delaware in the offseason, is quickly ascending to 'must-see' status for all basketball fans. In a sport in which one's height is usually the measurable most associated with its competitors, at five-foot-five, Skinner is more often than not making the biggest plays on the court.
 
Currently the owner of a Pac-12 high eight 20-point games this season, Skinner needs 63 points to reach 1000 for her career. Twenty-six of Skinner's 36 makes from long range have come in ASU's last seven contests. She is shooting 46 pct from beyond the arc (26-57) and averaging 23.0 points during that stretch.
 
Skinner, who has scored in double figures in every game, is also among the Pac-12's leaders in free throws made (65/1st) and attempted (79/2nd), minutes per game (35.5/2nd), 3-pointers per game (2.77/3rd), free throw percentage (82.3/5th), 3-point FG percentage (38.7/5th), steals per game (2.8/5th).
 
All of Skinner's 20-point games have come over ASU's last 11 contests. The stretch includes consecutive 24-point efforts at New Mexico and vs. American (Nov. 25), a pair of career-high 29-point games at Grand Canyon (Nov. 30) and vs. Missouri (Dec. 4) and 26-point effort at Arizona (Dec. 29), the most points given up by the Wildcats up to that point in the season. Skinner's six triples vs. Missouri were one short of tying the single-game school record.
 
CURRENT TRENDS/NOTES
• After averaging a double-double over the season's first four games (13.5 ppg/10.3 rpg), junior guard Treasure Hunt averaged 4.5 ppg in her next four games, two of those games came in the immediate aftermath of Hunt missing ASU's game at Grand Canyon (Nov. 30) due to an injury incurred in ASU's loss to Notre Dame (Nov. 26). Hunt has once again become a strong contributor as she has averaged 16.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in ASU's last four games, including a career-high 22-point outing in ASU's non-conference finale vs. Prairie View A&M (Dec. 17). She is currently 4th in the Pac-12 in minutes per game (33.57) and 13th in rebounds per game (19.9).
• In ASU's games vs. Prairie View A&M and at Arizona, Meg Newman has come off the bench and provided the Sun Devils with some major contributions: 11.0 ppg and 13.5 rpg. Newman had career highs in points (12) and rebounds (18) for her first career double-double in ASU's win over Prairie View A&M (Dec. 17). Newman's 18 boards were the most for a Sun Devil since Ja'Tavia Tapley pulled down 18 on Dec. 6, 2019, against BYU. She is currently ninth in the Pac-12 in rebounding.
• As of Jan. 1, the Sun Devils are among the top third in the Pac-12 in free throws made per game (2nd/16.46 ppg/13th in the nation), free throw attempts per game (1st/22.38/24th in the nation), offensive rebounds per game (3rd/14.7/36th in the nation).
• In addition to Skinner, also playing a major role in ASU's propensity for getting to the line has been fellow junior guard Jaddan Simmons. Currently 2nd on the team in scoring (12.3 ppg), the team leader in assists per game (3.2), blocks per game (0.9 bpg) and minutes per game (36.18), Simmons is also among the Pac-12's top performers in free throws made (2nd/52), attempted (5th/64) and free throw percentage (7th/81.2).
• Skinner and graduate center Kayla Mokwuah are the only two Sun Devils who have played in and started every game this season. Simmons and Hunt have both started all 11 games they have played in with each player missing one game due to injury.