Dec. 1, 1997
Sun Devil Women Travel to SMU's Southwestern Bell/Cotton Bowl Classic
- ASU (1-2) vs. SMU (3-1)
- Friday, Dec. 5, 7 p.m. CST/6 p.m. MST
- Moody Coliseum (8,998), Dallas, Texas
- KMVP 860 AM
ASU heads out for its first road games of the season when it travels to Dallas for the SMU Southwestern Bell/Cotton Bowl Classic. The Sun Devils will face the host Mustangs in game 2 of the tournament, while New Mexico State (1-2) and Oklahoma State (2-1) square off in game 1 at 6 p.m. CST. The winners meet up Saturday, Dec. 6 at 12 p.m. CST and the consolation game is slated for 2 p.m. CST.
MEDIA INFO: ASU's games in the SMU Tournament will be carried live on KMVP 860 AM with Kevin Ray calling the action.
SERIES RECORDS: Friday's meeting is the first between ASU and SMU. The Sun Devils are 2-5 all-time vs. New Mexico State in a series that dates back to ASU's inaugural season (1975-76). The Roadrunners won the last contest 83-81 on Jan. 13, 1986, in Las Cruces. Arizona State and Oklahoma State have never met.
PROBABLE STARTERS ASU Sun Devils Pos. Cl. Ht. PPG RPG Notable #14 Kristine Sand F So. 6-0 6.3 3.3 team-high tying 5 steals #55 Stephanie Freeman F Sr. 5-10 16.3 3.3 45.5 FG% #54 Rachel Holt C So. 6-3 5.0 3.7 team-high 5 blocks #21 Rameeka Lowe G Sr. 5-7 5.0 7.0* avg. 3.3 reb. #3 Rechelle Lang G Jr. 5-9 5.7 4.3* 44.4 FG% * - assists per game OFF THE BENCH #4 Leaf Newman G Fr. 5-9 11.3 4.0 17 pts. vs. Dayton #10 Ebony Edwards G Fr. 5-7 7.7 3.0 team-high tying 5 steals #20 Kisha White F Jr. 6-0 7.0 3.3 avg. 9.3 min. #40 Jennifer Bennett C Fr. 6-3 2.7 2.3 #50 Kellie McDanal F Fr. 6-4 0.0 1.3 avg. 5.3 min. #30 Spring Steed G Sr. 5-10 0.0 0.7 avg. 5.7 min #32 Michelle Tom G Jr. 5-8 - - eligible Dec. 20, 1997
QUOTABLES: Coach Charli Turner Thorne - "Leaf Newman came in off the bench (against Dayton) and did a great job. Kisha White, back-to-back, put together two really solid games for us. We still need to strengthen our post game but this was a great way to bounce back. We'll be seeing much quicker competition this weekend at the SMU tournament." FR G Leaf Newman - "The whole team played together (against Dayton); everyone was positive. It's great to bounce back from a bad game (Marquette) and do better the next night. We just need to keep playing and stay with things."
LONE STAR STATE TIES: SR F Stephanie Freeman, a second team all-state selection in 1994, starred at McCallum high school in Austin where she averaged 28 pts., 8 reb. and 5 stls. as a senior. SR G Rameeka Lowe came to ASU via Grayson CC in Denison, Texas, where she helped her squad to a 66-4 record in two years. SO G Natalie Tucker, who is sitting out this season as a Div. I transfer, played for Texas A&M last year. A native of Georgetown, Texas, Tucker is the sister of former A&M standout Lana Tucker.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION: SMU (3-1) defeated Oral Roberts 71-48 on Sunday, and claimed wins over Sam Houston State (80-49) and in an upset of then-No. 21 Tulane (68-58) in New Orleans. SO F Karlin Kennedy had 16 pts. and 12 reb. vs. Oral Roberts. Kennedy and Kveta Truchlikova are averaging a team-high 13.8 pts. New Mexico State (1-2) fell 73-57 to New Mexico Sunday in Las Cruces, its second loss to UNM on the year. The Roadrunners opened the season with a win vs. UTEP (79-56). SR F Wendy Ray leads NMSU with 11.0 pts. and 7.0 reb. Oklahoma State (2-1) last played on Nov. 23 (a 68-59 defeat of St. Bonaventure). The Cowgirls also beat Arkansas State (79-49) before falling to LSU in overtime (68-66).
LAST TIME OUT: Three Sun Devils reached double figures in scoring -- led by SR F Stephanie Freeman (Austin, Texas) -- as ASU (1-2) defeated Dayton (2-2) 68-55 Nov. 30 at the University Activity Center.
ASU's bench combined for 32 points in the win, with 29 from FR G Leaf Newman (Perris, Calif.) and JR C Kisha White (Phoenix, Ariz.). Newman sparked ASU with 17 points, five rebounds and four steals, while White added 12 points and four rebounds in just 14 minutes of play.
The Sun Devils jumped out to a 20-6 lead early and stretched their lead to 17 points at the 2:07 mark of the first period. ASU led 36-23 at the half. Newman was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the first stanza and the team was a combined 9-for-12 from the charity stripe.
Dayton came within 10 points with just under 17 minutes to play, but ASU took over from there. A three-pointer by Newman with 5:58 left gave the Sun Devils a 20-point edge (58-38), and ASU took its biggest lead on a Newman jumper at the 4:23 mark to go up 62-40.
ASU owned the edge on the glass, outrebounding the Flyers 42-36. The Sun Devils connected on a season-high 14 free throws and shot 44.1 percent on the night (26-for-59). Dayton was paced by sophomore forward Jenelle Ristrau, who scored 15 points and grabbed six boards. Ristrau was 5-for-6 with a pair of three-pointers.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP DEFINED: SR F Stephanie Freeman (Austin, Texas), ASU's sole three-year letterwinner, continues to lead the squad offensively with 16.3 points per game. Freeman has paced the Sun Devils in scoring in all three games, tying FR G Ebony Edwards with 18 points vs. UCSB.
RIDING THE PINE IS FINE: ASU's bench is averaging 28.7 points a game, while the starters are averaging 38.3 points. The Sun Devil bench combined for a season-high 32 points vs. Dayton, paced by 17 from FR G Leaf Newman. The bench produced 28 points vs. UCSB and 26 points vs. Marquette.
WHITE ON TARGET: As JR C Kisha White's (Phoenix, Ariz.) minutes have increased, so has her effectiveness. White, who went 0-for-2 in four minutes vs. UCSB, shot 66.7 percent (6-for-9) and notched 12 points in ASU's 68-55 win over Dayton. Here's a look at White's quick progress:
- 11-20 vs. UCSB - 0-2 FG/1 reb./4 min.
- 11-29 vs. Marquette - 4-8 FG/5 reb./9 pts./10 min.
- 11-30 vs. Dayton - 6-9 FG/4 reb./12 pts./14 min.
DOUBLE TROUBLE: SR G Rameeka Lowe (Seattle, Wash.) notched the first double-double of her career vs. UCSB, finishing with 10 points and a career-high 10 assists. Six of her points came from beyond the arc, as she went 2-for-2 from three-point range.
WE GOT MICHELE: Riding the wave of WNBA excitement that captured Phoenix this past summer, FOX Sports Arizona has signed Phoenix Mercury guard Michele Timms as color analyst for Sun Devil televised games. Timms, who made her debut in the ASU-Dayton game, will also serve as commentator for the ASU-Oklahoma game (Dec. 29), in the two games vs. Arizona (Jan. 17, Feb. 14) and more to come.
EB -N- FLOW: FR G Ebony Edwards (Chandler, Ariz.) showed no signs of collegiate debut jitters, tying SR F Stephanie Freeman with a team-high 18 points vs. UCSB. Edwards got her numbers in just 20 minutes, adding six rebounds (with just one turnover) on the night. On the season, "Eb," the '96 and '97 Arizona 5A Player of the Year, is averaging 7.7 points and 3.0 boards.
DID YOU KNOW?: This year's Sun Devil lineup features just 6 1/2 years of Division I experience.
WHO ARE THOSE GUYS?: Nine newcomers don the maroon and gold for the first time this year, almost outnumbering the returning letterwinners (5) two to one. The nine new faces are the most on an ASU team since the Pac-10 began sponsoring women's basketball in 1986-87.
FREEMAN ON THE MOVE: SR G Stephanie Freeman needs 13 steals to surpass Nikki Thompson for seventh on the ASU all-time chart. With 158 career thefts, Freeman needs just 41 steals to crack the top three.
ASU Career Steals Leaders
1. 291 Cassandra Lander 1980-83
2. 221 Molly Tuter 1994-97
3. 198 Karen O'Connor 1988-91
4. 189 Sandra Hamilton 1981-82
5t. 187 Kym Hampton 1981-84
187 Jovonne Smith 1990-93
7. 170 Nikki Thompson 1991-94
8. 158 Stephanie Freeman 1995-pres.
9. 156 Ryneldi Becenti 1992-93
ON THE TUBE: The Sun Devils will appear on television at least 10 times (with the opportunity for more exposures) in 1997-98, a record for the program and second in the Pac-10:
Nov. 20 UC Santa Barbara, (83-92) FOX Sports Arizona
Nov. 30 Dayton, (68-55) FOX Sports Arizona
Dec. 6 SMU Tourn., 12 p.m. FOX Sports Southwest^
Dec. 21 ASU Wells Fargo, 7 p.m. FOX Sports Arizona^
Dec. 29 Oklahoma, 7 p.m. FOX Sports Arizona
Jan. 17 Arizona, 2 p.m. FOX Sports Net
Jan. 22 at Orgon State, 7 p.m. FOX Sports Northwest
Jan. 24 at Oregon, 1 p.m. FOX Sports Net
Jan. 31 California, 2 p.m. FOX Sports Arizona
Feb. 28 at California, 2 p.m. FOX Sports Bay Area
Mar. 7 USC, 7 p.m. FOX Sports Arizona
^ - if ASU would advance to the championship game
MAXIMUM EXPOSURE: A full radio contract, which includes coverage of each of the Sun Devils' 28 regular-season contests, is part of the ASU women's basketball package for the first time ever this season. Twenty-four games will be carried on KMVP (860 AM), and the remaining four will air on KTAR (620 AM). All but four of the games will be broadcast live.
PAC-10 PREDICTIONS: Pac-10 media tabbed the Sun Devils to finish ninth in the league this year (37 points). Defending champion Stanford was selected to finish first, collecting all 17 first-place votes. (ASU was picked to finish 10th a year ago.) Here's the complete poll, released at Pac-10 Media Day in Los Angeles on Nov. 6:
1997-98 Pac-10 Women's Basketball Media Poll
1. Stanford (17) 6. USC
2. Arizona 7. Oregon State
3. Washington 8. California
4. UCLA 9. ARIZONA STATE
5. Oregon 10. Washington State
KEEPING THEM AT HOME: Four players from Arizona dot the Sun Devil roster for the first time since 1986-87. ASU's players from the Grand Canyon State this year include: two-time Arizona 5A Player of the Year Ebony Edwards (Chandler), Rachel Holt (Buckeye), Michelle Tom (Winslow) and Kisha White (Phoenix).
HEAD COACH CHARLI TURNER THORNE: Turner Thorne (Stanford '88), who enters her second year as the Sun Devil mentor, arrived ASU after a three-year stint as head coach at Northern Arizona University. Turner Thorne's career record now stands at 50-61 (.450) in her fifth season, after guiding ASU to its most wins (9) since 1992-93 last year. She led the Lumberjacks to consecutive winning seasons in 1994-95 and 1995-96, the first coach in school history to accomplish that feat. She was 40-40 overall in her three years in Flagstaff. She previously worked as an assistant at Santa Clara and Washington. Turner Thorne, who signed a four-year contract with ASU, is assisted by Mark Lewis, Laura Hughes and Erika Hardwick.
PAC-10 STANDINGS (through games as of Nov. 30, 1997)
Conference Overall
School W L Pct. W L Pct.
Washington - - -- 3 0 1.000
Arizona - - -- 1 0 1.000
USC - - -- 1 0 1.000
Oregon - - -- 2 1 .667
Washington State - - --- 2 1 .667
Oregon State - - --- 3 2 .600
California - - --- 2 3 .400
Arizona State - - --- 1 2 .333
Stanford - - --- 1 3 .250
UCLA - - --- 0 3 .000
ASU RECORD WHENOutrebound its opponent 1-0 Outscore opponent bench 1-1 Lead at halftime 1-0 Trail at halftime 0-1 Are tied at halftime 0-1 Shoot better from field than opponent 1-0 Shoot worse from field than opponent 0-2 Shoot 50% or better from field 0-0 Shoot less than 50% from field 1-2 Opponent shoots 50% or better from field 0-1 Opponent shoots less than 50% from field 1-0 Shoot more free throws than opponent 1-0 Commit less turnovers than opponent 1-1 Commit more turnovers than opponent 0-0 Commit same number of turnovers as opponent 0-1 Play at Home 1-2 Play Away 0-0 Play on Neutral Court 0-0 Conference Games 0-0 Televised Games 1-1