WHEN: Sunday at 3 p.m. MT
WHERE: Wells Fargo Arena • Tempe, Ariz.
PROMOTION: Following the game fans are invited to participate in a yoga class on the court. Fans who attend the game with a yoga mat can purchase tickets for $1 at the box office. It will also be Sunday Fun Day: Kids 12 and younger get free admission and will be able to participate in arts & crafts, mini basketball, and balloon twisting activities on the east concourse of Wells Fargo Arena.
UP NEXT
The No. 18 Arizona State women's basketball team (9-3, 0-1 Pac-12) will attempt to get a split out of the first weekend of Pac-12 play when it hosts unbeaten and No. 21 Cal (13-0, 1-0 Pac-12) at 3 p.m. MT on New Year's Day.
Coming off a nine-day break after its win over Holy Cross on Dec. 21 – its longest stretch of the season not playing a game – ASU had its seven-game winning streak snapped by No. 13 Stanford, 64-57, on Friday in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
Trailing by eight points with less than five minutes remaining, the Sun Devils reeled off seven straight points to cut Stanford's lead to a single point after Reili Richardson's layup with 1:19 remaining. The Sun Devils would get no closer as Stanford scored the last six points of the game – all coming from the free throw line – to bring a halt to ASU's recent string of four consecutive wins over the Cardinal in regular season games.
Richardson scored a career-high 14 points – seven of which came in the final quarter – while senior Sophie Brunner just missed her third double-double of the season with 15 points and nine rebounds.
The Sun Devils were aggressive on the offensive boards, finishing with 22 offensive rebounds to 20 on the defensive end as they outrebounded Stanford 42-31. The Devils capitalized with 21 second-chance points to keep within striking distance of Stanford. The Cardinal shot 44 percent in the second half while the Sun Devils dropped off to 32 percent over the final 20 minutes of the game.
This season represents the first time since 2002 that the Sun Devils opened the conference slate with the label of 'defending champions,' after tying with Oregon State last season for the league's top spot in the regular season standings (16-2). Prior to tying for the conference title last season the Sun Devils were in the runner-up spot in 2015 after finishing 15-3, one game behind Oregon State (16-2). After dropping Friday's contest to Stanford the Sun Devils find themselves in the unusual spot of having a losing record in conference play. One of the keys to ASU's Pac-12 success the last two seasons was its ability to get out to fast starts. In 2015 the Sun Devils won their first seven Pac-12 games, which at the time was their best league start ever. They would surpass that mark last season after winning their first nine league games.
COVERAGE
Sunday's game can be seen live on Pac-12 Network. Krista Blunk (play by play) and Mary Murphy (analyst) will call the action. The contest can also be heard live on NBC Sports Radio AM 1060 and on the Sun Devil Athletics Tune-In Channel. Pre-game coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. Veteran broadcaster and the state of Arizona's 2010 Broadcaster of the Year Jeff Munn is in his 13th season as the voice of ASU women's basketball. He will be joined by former Sun Devil head coach Maura McHugh.
SERIES NOTES
ASU has faced Cal more times than any other team since the 2005-06 season (25x - Cal hold a slight 13-12 edge in that stretch). That series includes five meetings in the Pac-12 Tournament, most recently last season's quarterfinal matchup won by Cal, 75-64. The Sun Devils won the front end of the series in 2014 and 2015 (68-59 win in Tempe/ 67-52 win in Berkeley) while Cal won the rematch each of those seasons (74-63 in Berkeley/50-49 in Tempe. The Sun Devils swept the two regular season contests last season (57-49 in Tempe and 67-49 in Berkeley) before Cal upset ASU in the aforementioned Pac-12 Tournament contest. Sophie Brunner averaged 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in the three meetings last season. ASU allowed Cal to make 39 percent of its FGs in the first two meetings, but the Bears came back to connect on 69 percent of their shots in the Pac-12 Tournament game.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• This year ASU returned three senior starters – posts Sophie Brunner, Quinn Dornstauder and Kelsey Moos – from the 2015-16 team that captured a share of the Pac-12 regular season title, won 26 games (tied for third-highest in program history) and went on to earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament (highest placement in program history). In addition, 2016 Pac-12 Coach of the Year Charli Turner Thorne welcomed a five-member freshman class – Sydney Goodson, Reili Richardson, Jamie Ruden, Kiara Russell and Robbi Ryan – that was ranked among the nation's top 10 signing classes when it was announced last fall, and Sara Hattis, a graduate post who will be eligible to play this season after transferring to ASU from the University of Texas in May.
• As of Dec. 31, ASU ranked among the top third in the Pac-12 in rebounding defense (first/28.0 rpg), 3-point FG pct. defense (second/24.2 percent), offensive rebounds (tied for second/15.8 rpg), scoring defense (third/54.1 ppg) and rebounding margin (third/+10.4).
• During its recent seven-game winning streak ASU made 49 percent of its shots, was +12.1 on the boards and had a +7.6 advantage in assists per game. ASU's advantage on the boards was especially telling on the offensive glass where they grabbed nearly twice as many rebounds as the opposition (94-49). The Sun Devils took full advantage of the extra opportunities as they had an 85-28 advantage in second-chance points during the seven-game winning streak. ASU dominated the offensive glass in Friday's game against Stanford (had advantages of 22-12 in offensive boards and 21-8 in second-chance points), but the Cardinal was able to negate those advantages by knocking down six 3-pointers (tied for most by an ASU opponent this season), hitting 12 free throws (most by an ASU opponent this season) and outscoring ASU 19-12 in points off turnovers.
• Another shooting percentage note from ASU's recent winning streak: ASU was 13-14 from the floor in the fourth quarter of its come-from-behind win over then- No. 19 Florida (Dec. 4), a game it trailed by 12 entering the final period. In its win at then-No. 15 Kentucky (Dec. 11) ASU was 6-8 from the floor in OT. On Friday ASU connected on only 28 percent of its shots in the fourth quarter while Stanford hit 50 percent of its shots.
• In November Brunner became the 22nd Sun Devil to reach 1,000 career points. On Dec. 4 Brunner was named the ASU Classic MVP for the third time in her four-year Sun Devil career after averaging 12.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.5 steals while connecting on 62.5 percent of her field goals in the two-game tournament. She collected her 17th career double-double in ASU's win over Oral Roberts (Dec. 17). In ASU's last eight games Brunner has averaged 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds and has connected on 62.5 pct of her shots (45-72).
• Kelsey Moos has 22 assists and only five turnovers in the last eight games. She has also averaged 6.3 rebounds during that stretch. This season Moos has established new single-game career highs for assists (8) and steals (6) and tied a career high with three 3-pointers.
• Sophomore forward Kianna Ibis is shooting 50.9 percent (27-53) from the floor in ASU's last seven games. She scored 13 points (one short of tying career high) in ASU's win over Oral Roberts (Dec. 17). All three of her double-figure scoring efforts this season have come in ASU's last six games.
• ASU's five member freshman class – Sydney Goodson, Reili Richardson, Jamie Ruden, Kiara Russell and Robbi Ryan – combined for 60 points and 19 assists the first two wins of the season. Richardson was named the Pac-12's Freshman of the Week after averaging 9.0 points and 5.5 assists while connecting on 58 percent of her shots in the two wins. Richardson, who had seven points and seven assists in her Sun Devil debut, tied fellow freshman Robbi Ryan with a game-high 11 points (4-7 FGs) to go along with four assists in ASU's 82-37 win over San Jose State. Ryan scored 19 points in ASU's loss at Marquette (Nov. 19). The 19 points represent the most scored by a Sun Devil this season. Ryan also led ASU in scoring (13 points) in its win at Middle Tennessee (Dec. 13). Russell started the first seven games at point guard before getting injured during the week of preparation for ASU's game at Kentucky (Dec. 11). She is currently being evaluated on a game-by-game basis. Richardson got her first career start against Kentucky and accounted for 12 points, six assists and four rebounds while playing 40-plus minutes. She has averaged 10.6 points and 4.6 assists in the five games she has started and has connected on 50 percent of her shots (13-26) in the last three games. She scored a career-high 14 points in Friday's game vs. Stanford.
SUN DEVILS CONTINUE TO EXCEL IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
ASU's win over Holy Cross on Dec. 21 was its 40th regular-season, non-conference win in the last four seasons. Going back to the 1986-87 season – the first season of Pac-10/Pac-12 play – ASU's 40 regular-season, non-conference wins are by far the most in a four-season stretch in program history (the next highest total is 33 games done three times: 2003-06/2004-07/2005-08). In addition, ASU's 40 wins leading up to the start of the conference season are more than any other team in the Pac-12 the last four seasons.
This was the fourth straight season that ASU brought a winning streak of six or more games into Pac-12 play. The 2013-14 team won 10 straight, the 2014-15 team won seven straight, the 2015-16 team won six straight and this year's team will bring a seven-game winning streak into league play.
SUN DEVIL WBB JUST AS SUCCESSFUL IN THE CLASSROOM AS IT IS ON THE COURT
For the Fall 2016 semester the Sun Devil WBB team turned in an extraordinary effort in the classroom that resulted in a 3.63 team GPA. Every player on the roster has a cumulative GPA about 3.0, including nine players with a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher.
Since the 1996-97 season, Turner Thorne's first season at ASU, the Sun Devils lead the Pac-12 in the number of first-team All-Academic conference awards (19) and the combined number of first- and second-team All-Academic conference awards (40). In 2014-15 ASU's team GPA (3.558) was No. 7 on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) 2015 Academic Honor Roll.
BRUNNER NOMINATED FOR WBCA/ALLSTATE GOOD WORKS TEAM
Arizona State University women's basketball's Sophie Brunner was one of 97 women's basketball student-athletes recently named as nominees for the 2017 Allstate WBCA Good Works Team®. The esteemed award honors an outstanding group of student-athletes who represent the sport's finest in the areas of community service and leadership among their peers.
The Allstate WBCA Good Works Team® recognizes players at all levels of college basketball whose charitable involvement and altruistic acts stand out amongst all other student-athletes participating in the sport.
Brunner's selfless and giving attitude has been on display since her freshman year when she volunteered to be a frequent participant in the Sun Devil women's basketball team's Character Code program. Since that time Brunner, who was also a nominee for the Good Works Team in 2015, has led assemblies in more than 30 schools across the Valley where she encourages youth to practice good character at home, at school and with friends.
In 2014 Brunner joined a group of Sun Devil student-athletes who traveled with Arizona State University American Indian students to Hopi and Navajo lands as part of the ASU Tribal Nations Tour. Sophie joined her peers in the endeavor to interact with tribal members, encourage higher education and wellness, and work on community service projects.
Brunner's community service efforts have also included being a leader in the Interact Program, where she performed service projects for the underserved, made holiday baskets and kits for Haiti and organized food drives. She also took part in DAWG, a drug and alcohol awareness group promoting sobriety and mentoring her peers.
FREE THROWS
• ASU was picked to finish in fourth place in the Pac-12 by both the league's coaches and media who cover the conference. The Sun Devils received one first-place vote in the media poll.
• Over the last three seasons ASU is 40-7 (.851) in regular-season non-conference games and 49-7 (.875) at home.
• ASU is 31-6 in regular season Pac-12 games going back to 2015. Prior to its loss at Oregon State on Feb. 1, 2016, ASU's 9-0 record in Pac-12 play was its best conference start in program history (surpassed last 7-0 start in 2015).
• The Sun Devils are 23-4 in road games since the start of the 2014-15 season. Last season the Sun Devils set a program record with 11 road wins.
• ASU has allowed an average of only 55.2 points per game since the start of the 2014-15 season (80 games). ASU has held the opposition to 50 or fewer points 29 times during that stretch. They are 28-1 in those contests. The only loss came at home to Cal (50-49) on Feb. 8, 2015. On average, opposing teams scored more than 15.0 points under their scoring average when facing ASU last season. In fact, only two opponents (Marquette and Tennessee), scored more points than what they averaged coming into their respective games vs. ASU.
• In the last three seasons the Sun Devils are 26-6 in games decided by five points or less and/or overtime. The most recent such game came in ASU's 73-71 overtime win at Kentucky on Dec. 11.
CHARLI TURNER THORNE HAS SUN DEVIL WBB AMONG NATION'S ELITE
The all-time winningest coach in program history and No. 2 in the Pac-12 in career wins (389), Charli Turner Thorne has turned Sun Devil women's basketball into one of the nation's premiere programs since taking over in 1996-97. Included in ASU's earlier run of 13 consecutive postseason appearances (2000-12) were a school record five-consecutive NCAA Tournament bids from 2005-09. During that time the Sun Devils qualified for the Elite Eight on a pair of occasions, making ASU one of only 15 programs in the country to have qualified for the Elite Eight at least two times between 2007-12.
Last season Turner Thorne was named the 2016 Pac-12 Coach of the Year (coaches and media), the second time she has been recognized with the honor (2001), after leading the Sun Devils to their second regular season Pac-12 championship. ASU would go on to earn its highest NCAA Tournament seed (No. 2) in program history. In 2016 ASU has also tied the program records for most conference wins (16) and consecutive wins (15) and set the program record for most road wins (11). Turner Thorne would go on to also be named the WBCA Region 5 Co-Coach of the Year.
In 2014-15 Turner Thorne was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year for a season in which she led the Sun Devils to their best start in school history (18-1), their best conference start in school history (7-0), a second-place finish in the Pac-12 and 29 wins, the second-highest number of wins in school history.
In 2013-14 Turner Thorne, who recorded both the 400th win of her coaching career and her 200th Pac-12 win last season, raised the curtain on the team's current era of success as she helped the Sun Devils post one of the best turnarounds in the country as they went from a 13-18 record and a ninth-place Pac-12 finish (5-13) in 2012-13 to a 23-10 record and fourth-place Pac-12 finish (11-7). Included among ASU's 23 wins in 2013-14 were three triumphs over Top 25 teams.
The outstanding success Sun Devil women's basketball has enjoyed under Turner Thorne is a 180-degree difference from the program that had an aggregate record of 20-60 in the three years prior to her arrival and only two NCAA Tournament wins in its history.
CELEBRATING ELITE ACCOMPLISHMENT
This season will be the 10th anniversary of ASU's first ever appearance in the NCAA Elite Eight. Led by senior forwards Aubree Johnson and Emily Westerberg who were both named to the All-Pac-10 Team, ASU set school records for overall wins (31), most Pac-10 wins (16 - tied in 2016) and most road wins (10 - broken in 2016) With the honor, Westerberg became the first Sun Devil to be named to the All-Pac-10 Team three times. In addition to Johnson and Westerberg's accolades, sophomore guard Briann January was named All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention and guard Dymond Simon was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team.
INJURY REPORT
Freshman guard Kiara Russell started the first seven games of the season at point guard before suffering an injury (quad) in practice on Dec. 5. She has missed ASU's last five games and is currently being evaluated on a game-to-game basis. Freshman post Jamie Ruden suffered a foot injury in practice on Dec. 28 and is likely to miss the remainder of the season.
SUN DEVIL WBB ANNOUNCES THE SIGNING OF EVA RUBIN AND BRE'YANNA SANDERS
On Nov. 9, 2016, Arizona State University head women's basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne today announced that student-athletes Eva Rubin and Bre'yanna Sanders signed national letters of intent to join the Sun Devil women's basketball program.
"We are excited to announce that Eva and Bre will be joining our Sun Devil women's basketball family," Turner Thorne said. "Both of these young women come from great families and will not only excel on the court but in the classroom and our community."
A 6-5 post, Rubin will be coming to ASU from Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Flossmoor, Illinois, where she averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocks as a junior in 2016. Ranked No. 14 at her position by ESPN.com, Rubin earned Class 3A/4A All-State recognition from the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association last season in addition to also being named to the All-Area and All-Conference teams. As a sophomore in 2015, Rubin helped lead her squad to a fourth-place finish in the IHSA 4A state tournament. During Homewood-Flossmoor's run in the tournament, Rubin tied a Class 4A single-game record with five blocked shots.
A 6-0 forward, Sanders will be joining the Sun Devils from Clovis West High School in Fresno, California, where she has earned first-team All-Valley recognition in addition to being named the team's defensive player of the year each of the last two seasons. In 2016 Sanders averaged 11.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.9 steals and 2.2 blocks in helping lead her team to 30-4 record and the semifinals of the Southern California Regional Open Division. She would go on to be named the league co-player of the year. In 2015 Sanders had a big role on a team that posted a 26-5 record, its third straight Central Section Division I title and reached the second round of the Southern California Open Division regional.