ASU Women's Basketball History
The 2005-06 season marks the 30th year of Arizona State University sponsoring women's basketball as an intercollegiate sport. ASU also begins its 19th campaign as one of the charter members of the prestigious Pacific-10 Conference.
Over the years the Sun Devils have produced five All-America selections, 41 all-conference performers, 41 All-Pac-10 academic honorees and three Academic All-Americans.
The first student-athlete to make headlines on the Sun Devil hardwood was Joanie Smith, who played from 1976-78. Smith averaged 23.5 points and became the first ASU female athlete to sign a professional contract when she was drafted to play for the Milwaukee Does in 1978.
One of the most celebrated players to help bring national attention to the Sun Devil program is two-time consensus All-American and four-time All-Conference pick Kym Hampton (1981-84), a former member of the WNBA's New York Liberty.
In Hampton's final game as a Sun Devil, she exploded for a school-record 44 points against Arizona, closing the books on one of the finest careers in collegiate basketball history. When she stepped off the court that night, she found herself the holder of 49 school records. Hampton's name is still etched in the ASU annals a total of 25 times.
Hampton remains the only basketball player in Arizona State history (male or female) to score more than 2,000 points (2,361) and grab more than 1,000 rebounds (1,145) in a career. During her illustrious career, she averaged 28 points and 15 rebounds a game. Appropriately she was inducted into ASU's Hall of Fame in 1989.
During the "Hampton Era," ASU had a record of 86-37 (.705) and went to three consecutive post-season tournaments -- the 1981 Women's National Invitation Tournament, and the 1982 and 1983 NCAA tournaments. In 1983, the Sun Devils finished 11th in the final national rankings.
Olivia Jones is another name that comes to mind when reviewing the list of Sun Devil standouts. Jones was named to the Kodak All-District women's basketball team and was a 1983 all-conference selection. In 1982-83, she was ASU's leading scorer with 19 points per game.
The squad, which included Hampton and Jones, also possessed 1980 and 1982 all-selection member Cassandra Lander. Known to be a quick playmaker, Lander's career highs were 35 points and 12 rebounds.
Former ASU forward Sherry Poole proved successful on and off the hardwood. The Sun Devils' No. 4 all-time leading scorer (1,370) and sixth-leading rebounder (585), Poole shot .803 from the free throw line during her career. Poole was also named the Pac-10 Medalist in 1987 -- the highest award the league can bestow on a student-athlete. She also earned third-team GTE Academic All-America honors in 1987.
Jodi Rathbun left her mark on ASU as a point guard when she graduated in 1986. Rathbun set marks for most assists in a game (14) and most assists in a single season (143) during the 1983-84 campaign. Although both marks have since been broken, Rathbun still stands atop the list for assists in a career and was inducted into ASU's Hall of Fame in 2001. Rathbun was also impressive on the softball field as well with a career batting average of .361. She played first base on the 1987 softball team, which ranked seventh in the nation.
Robin Connolly's name is mentioned among the top 10 on several Sun Devil career lists, including scoring (fifth) and rebounds (seventh). She averaged 14.3 points a game and became the first player in ASU women's basketball history to record a triple-double.
All-Pac-10 selection Fran Ciak became only the ninth player in Sun Devil history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. In addition, Ciak was twice named a GTE CoSIDA Academic All-American.
A 5-7 point guard from New York would also make her name known before exiting ASU. Although injured much of her career, Karen O'Connor finished fifth (and now ranks sixth) in career scoring (1,224) and second (now fourth) in steals (198).
A return to the NCAA Tournament in 1991-92 was made possible in part under the direction of honorable mention all-American Ryneldi Becenti. In just two seasons at ASU (1992-93), the two-time All-Pac-10 selection vaulted to No. 2 on the all-time assists chart with 396. Becenti left ASU as the most prolific three-point shooter in Sun Devil history (90) and now ranks fifth on that list. The sharp-shooting point guard was named Pac-10 Player of the Week a school-record four times and played for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA during its inaugural season. In 2005, Becenti became the sixth women's basketball player inducted into ASU's Hall of Fame.
he 1996-97 season brought a close to the career of All-Pac-10 forward Molly Tuter, the Sun Devil's third-leading career scorer (1,374). An import from Soldotna, Alaska, Tuter averaged 13.9 points over four seasons and ranks third on the all-time treys chart (116). She also blocked a school sixth-best 59 shots.
Through the years, the Sun Devils have been led by a number of outstanding mentors. Mary Littlewood coached ASU's first squad in 1975, and was inducted into the Hall of Distinction in 1990. Littlewood began her association with the university in 1965 and coached volleyball from 1965-74. After her one-year stint as ASU's women's basketball coach, Littlewood began her 20-year reign as the Sun Devil softball coach. She retired in 1989.
Holding one of the best performance records is former head coach Juliene Simpson, who guided ASU for seven seasons (1981-87), compiling a record of 134-92. During Simpson's tenure, ASU went to three consecutive postseason appearances. In 1981, the Sun Devils placed second to Georgia in the National Women's Invitation Tournament and then advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 in 1982 and 1983, falling to eventual champions Louisiana Tech and USC, respectively.
Maura McHugh coached the Sun Devils for six years, emphasizing an exciting style of basketball. ASU forced the tempo and played an aggressive in-your-face type defense that caused many turnovers. This style was effective and paid off. Under the direction of McHugh, the Sun Devils returned to the NCAA Tournament in 1992, after an absence of nine years. McHugh also produced ASU's first All-American since Hampton in Becenti who earned honorable-mention accolades in 1992 and 1993.
After three years under former Dartmouth head coach Jacqueline Hullah, ASU hired Charli Turner Thorne as its seventh head coach in June 1996. Turner Thorne came to Tempe from Northern Arizona University, where she led NAU to the first consecutive winning seasons in school history. Turner Thorne inherited a Sun Devil squad with six seniors, including Tuter, guiding it to the most victories by an ASU team in four years in 1996-97. Since then, Turner Thorne has returned the program to the national spotlight and is on the verge of creating a dynasty. The winningest coach in school history, Turner Thorne has led the Sun Devils to postseason play in a school-record six consecutive seasons (2000-05), most recently the team's first NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance in 22 years.
In 2000-01, the Sun Devils captured a share of ASU's first Pac-10 Conference title. ASU turned in a 20-11 overall record and a school-record 12-6 mark in conference play, broke into the national top 25 for the first time since 1992 and earned the school's first NCAA Tournament bid in nine years. During the course of their outstanding season, the Sun Devils also etched their names in the national history books, nearly toppling the second-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols at Bank One Ballpark in the AstraZeneca Hoops for the Cure Classic, the first outdoor college basketball game.
Accolades were plentiful for the Sun Devils in 2001 with Amanda Levens and Melody Johnson named first-team All-Pac-10 selections, marking the first time in school history that ASU had two first-teamers, Betsy Boardman earning Pac-10 All-Freshman honors and Turner Thorne recognized as Pac-10 Coach of the Year and WBCA Regional Coach of the Year for District VIII.
The 2001-02 season proved to be even more successful as Turner Thorne's Sun Devils upset second-ranked Stanford to capture the inaugural Pac-10 Conference Tournament title and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. ASU finished the season with a 25-9 overall record, tying the school record for wins, and set the school mark for home victories with a 13-2 mark. In the postseason, ASU came from behind to win all three of its games in the Pac-10 Tournament, including a 70-63 victory over the No. 2 Cardinal to win the title.
The comeback kids were at it again in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Nashville, Tenn., overcoming a 14-point first-half deficit to beat Wisconsin and earn ASU's first postseason victory in 19 years. The Sun Devils ended their postseason run with a loss to fourth-ranked Vanderbilt in the second round.
Amanda Levens was named an honorable-mention Associated Press All-American and becoming the first Sun Devil in nine years to earn back-to-back first-team Pac-10 honors. She also became the 13th player to join ASU's 1,000-point club and just the third Sun Devil in school history to do it in two seasons, scoring 1,020 points in two years. Levens also finished second in career three-pointers and in ASU's career top 10 in six other categories despite playing for ASU for just two seasons. Melody Johnson, who finished as ASU's career leader in field goal percentage, earned honorable-mention all-league honors, while Kylan Loney, who set the school record for assists by a rookie, also earned honorable-mention Pac-10 All-Freshman honors. Jen Albert and Leah Combs were named to the Pac-10's all-academic first team, the first time that ASU had two players earned first-team academic honors in the same season.
In 2002-03, the Sun Devils continued to succeed, despite fielding the youngest team in recent memory with three true freshmen and two sophomores in the starting lineup after losing its top returning scorer and rebounder, Betsy Boardman, to a preseason knee injury. ASU earned a berth in the 2003 WNIT and tied the school record for home wins with a 13-4 mark at Wells Fargo Arena, upsetting three ranked teams along the way. Freshmen Amy Denson and Jill Noe were named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman first team, while Kristen Kovesdy was an honorable-mention all-rookie selection, marking the first time in school history that ASU has had more than one player on the league's all-freshman squad. Carrie Buckner earned honorable-mention All-Pac-10 honors. Buckner and Jen Albert were both named to the Pac-10's All-Academic first team, marking the second time (and second straight year) that ASU had two players on the all-academic first team.
The Sun Devils extended their school-record postseason streak to five seasons in 2003-04, earning a second straight bid to the WNIT. Despite suffering four season-ending knee injuries, including one to top returning scorer Jill Noe in October, ASU set a school record for home winning percentage in a season with a 13-1 home mark (.919). The most impressive of those 13 wins came when the team turned in a 30-point swing, overcoming a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat then No. 7 Stanford 73-53 on Feb. 7. Kylan Loney earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors for the Sun Devils, while Kristen Kovesdy was an honorable-mention selection. Emily Westerberg was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team, the seventh straight year a Sun Devil has earned all-rookie accolades, while a school record six Sun Devils were named to the Pac-10 All-Academic Team, including Jen Albert who became the first Sun Devil to earn first-team Pac-10 All-Academic honors three times in her career.
The Sun Devils capped off a tremendous season in 2004-05 with ASU's first run to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 22 years. Turner Thorne became the first Sun Devil mentor to lead her team to three NCAA Tournament appearances and guided her team to a 24-10 overall mark, just one victory shy of the school record for single-season wins. Highlights of the non-conference season included a 67-57 win at then No. 11 Georgia and a 61-50 home victory over three-time defending NCAA champion and eighth-ranked Connecticut, while during the Pac-10 season, the team matched the school record for conference victories with a 12-6 mark and tied for second place in the standings. ASU began the postseason with a run to the championship game of the Pac-10 Tournament, falling just short of its second tournament title against then top-ranked Stanford. The Sun Devils downed Eastern Kentucky and 11th-ranked Notre Dame in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament to earn a trip back home to the NCAA Tempe Regional. The remarkable season came to an end with a hard-fought loss to top-seeded and fourth-ranked North Carolina at Wells Fargo Arena.
Emily Westerberg became just the second sophomore in school history to earn first-team All-Pac-10 honors, while Kristen Kovesdy was named to the league's honorable-mention squad. For the second straight season, a school-record six Sun Devils were named to the Pac-10's All-Academic squad, led by second-team selection Aubree Johnson. Kylan Loney, who was named to the NCAA Tempe Regional All-Tournament squad, became the second Sun Devil women's basketball player to win the prestigious Pac-10 Medal of Honor and also won ASU's Heather Farr Award for her achievements in scholarship, athletics, community service and leadership.