WHAT: No. 22/21 Arizona State (8-3) vs. CSUN (2-9)
WHEN: Monday at 3 p.m. MT
WHERE: Wells Fargo Arena, Tempe, Ariz. Free parking for Sun Devil women's basketball games is available in the following surface lots located off of Packard Drive: 57, 58 & 59. Please note that parking is NOT free in the Packard Structure or the Stadium Structure.
TICKETS:Click on this link for tickets. Please note that tickets for the ASU-CSUN game are also good for the Sun Devil men's basketball team's contest vs. Cal State Bakersfield at 7 p.m.
LIVE STEAM: http://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university.
RADIO: Internet only on the Sun Devil Athletics Tune-In Channel. Click on this link for the broadcast.
UP NEXT
The No. 22 Arizona State women's basketball team (8-3) closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule on Monday (3 p.m. MT) when it hosts CSUN (2-9) at Wells Fargo Arena. Monday's game will be the first of three ASU will play over an eight-day stretch. The Sun Devils will open Pac-12 play on Saturday when they host No. 21/18 Cal at 5 p.m. They will then close out the first weekend of conference play next Monday when they host No. 12/11 Stanford at 6 p.m.
The Sun Devils are coming off one of their best outings of the season in a 68-56 win over No. 10 Florida State. With the win, ASU evened its record to 2-2 against ranked opponents. The Sun Devils opened their season with a 68-64 overtime loss at home to then-No. 18 and currently seventh-ranked Kentucky and a 60-58 loss to second-ranked South Carolina in Hawaii. They captured their first win over a ranked foe on Dec. 12 when they went on the road and defeated then-No. 19 Syracuse, 61-54. The win over Florida State represented ASU's fifth consecutive win and its seventh in eight games. The five-game win streak represents the 23rd time since 2001 that ASU has had a winning streak of five or more games. Included in those streaks are a 10-game winning streak in 2013-14 and a 14-game winning streak last season.
Much of ASU's recent success can be attributed to what it has done on the defensive end as the Sun Devils have allowed an average of only 52.6 points in their last 8 games. The Sun Devils also seen lots of improvement on the offensive end of late as they are shooting 49.5 percent from the floor in their last 4 games. During its recent 7-1 stretch, the Sun Devils have had a balanced attack on offense as 7 players have averaged 6 or more points over the last 8 games: junior forward Sophie Brunner (12.0 ppg - has played in 2 of the 8 games), senior guard Arnecia Hawkins (11.8 ppg), junior center Quinn Dornstauder (11.1 ppg), senior guard Katie Hempen (9.0 ppg), junior forward Kelsey Moos (8.0 ppg - has played in 4 of the 8 games), freshman guard Sabrina Haines (6.9 ppg) and senior guard Elisha Davis (6.8 ppg).
LIVE STREAM/RADIO
Monday's game vs. CSUN will be streamed at http://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university. The game can also be heard on the Sun Devil Athletics Tune-In Channel. Pre-game coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. Veteran broadcaster and the state of Arizona's 2010 Broadcaster of the Year Jeff Munn is in his 12th season as the voice of ASU women's basketball. He will be joined by former Sun Devil head coach Maura McHugh.
NOTES FROM LAST GAME
• Senior guard Arnecia Hawkins scored a career-high 23 points to lead ASU to a 68-56 upset win over No. 10 Florida State last Monday. Hawkins, who was 12-18 from the floor in ASU's previous three games, maintained the hot hand on Monday as she made all seven of her shots, including a trio of 3-pointers, and was 6-7 from the line.
• Quinn Dornstauder (11 points, six rebounds and three blocks), Elisha Davis (10 points and six assists) and Sophie Brunner (10 points and six rebounds) also scored in double figures for the Sun Devils (8-3).
• Down by one in the third quarter, the Sun Devils responded with a 12-0 run to take a 44-33 lead with 1:31 remaining.
• Hawkins led the way in the fourth quarter as she scored 13 of ASU's 24 points. The senior guard made all four of her shots, including three from downtown, to contribute to ASU's 80-percent shooting effort (8-10) in the final stanza.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the third all-time meeting between the Matadors. The Sun Devils have won the previous two meetings, winning 93-37 at the Florida International Fun in the Sun Tournament in Miami (Dec., 21, 1992) and again at home, 80-44, on Dec. 21, 2000.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• ASU returns nine players, including four starters – senior guards Katie Hempen and Elisha Davis and junior posts Sophie Brunner and Kelsey Moos – from last year's team that finished with 29 wins (second most in team history) and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Brunner (Pan American Games – silver medal) and Hempen (World University Games – gold medal) both earned medals in July while competing for USA Basketball. Also earning a medal was junior center Quinn Dornstauder (Canada), who brought back a silver medal from the World University Games.
• On Dec. 14, 2015, ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne recorded her 400th career win following ASU's 60-29 win at Hartford.
• Two of ASU's three losses – vs. current No. 7 Kentucky (68-64 in OT on Nov. 15) and vs. current No. 2 South Carolina (60-58 on Nov. 27 in Hawaii) – have come by a combined six points to two of the nation's top eight teams.
• The Sun Devils have won 33 of their 38 home games going back to the 2013-14 season. Last season ASU was 16-2 at home and allowed an average of only 55.1 in those games while outscoring the opposition by an average of 12.2 ppg.
• ASU is 14-1 in its last 15 road games going back to last season.
• ASU is 30-5 in non-conference games the last three seasons.
• In the last three seasons the Sun Devils are 20-6 in games decided by five points or less and/or overtime.
• In their first seven games the Sun Devils shot 38.3 percent from the floor and 28.9 percent from 3-point range. In their last four games they are shooting 49.5 percent (+11.2) and 39.7 from beyond the arc (+10.8 percent).
• After averaging 19.7 turnovers in its first three games, ASU has improved that figure to 13.9 in its last eight games. Last season the Sun Devils set the school record for fewest turnover per game (14.3).
• ASU has held the opposition to only 52.6 ppg in its last eight games.
• ASU has allowed 14 or fewer points in a quarter 26 times this season and 25 or fewer points in a half eight times. The six points Hartford scored in the first half against ASU on Dec. 14 represented the fewest points ASU has ever allowed in a half. The nine points Florida State scored in the 3rd quarter on Dec. 21 matched its season low.
• On Dec. 12, 2015, the Sun Devils won at Syracuse 61-54 and ended the Orange's 72-game non-conference home court winning streak.
• Both of ASU's starting forwards – Kelsey Moos and Sophie Brunner were injured in the second half of ASU's 60-58 loss vs. South Carolina on Nov. 27 in Hawaii. Moos would go on to miss four games (returned at Syracuse on December 12) and Brunner missed six games (returned vs. Marquette on December 19).
• With the earlier injuries to Brunner and Moos, senior guard Arnecia Hawkins stepped up in the 7 games she started as she averaged 10.1 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 48 percent in those games. Hawkins scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds vs. VCU (Dec. 5). She added 17 points in ASU's win over Marquette (Dec. 19). In ASU's upset of No. 10 Florida State, Hawkins was a perfect 7-7 from the floor and scored a career-best and 2015-16 team-high 23 points. Hawkins has averaged 14.5 points and is shooting 76 pct (19-25) in her last 4 games.
• Currently in second place on ASU's all-time list for career 3-pointers (142), senior guard Katie Hempen (started 53 of 79 games at ASU/45 straight starts) needs 20 triples to pass Kylan Loney (161 - 2001-05) as ASU's all-time leader. Hempen, who is fourth on the team in scoring (9.8 ppg), has connected on 44.0 percent of her 3-pointers this season (5th in the Pac-12).
• ASU's leading scorer off the bench each of the last two seasons, starting junior center Quinn Dornstauder is currently tied for first on the team in scoring (11.2 ppg).
• Senior guard Elisha Davis (started 50 of 109 career games/50 straight starts) has 57 assists (6.38 per game) and only 23 turnovers in ASU's last nine games.
• Senior forward Eliza Normen, who redshirted due to injury as a freshman in 2011-12, returns for her fifth year. A veteran of 113 games, Normen started four games with injuries to starters Sophie Brunner and Kelsey Moos. Normen is currently third on the team in offensive rebounds (1.3 rpg).
• Freshman guard Sabrina Haines averaged 9.0 ppg shot 55 percent from the floor during a recent four-game stretch. Haines currently leads ASU's freshmen in scoring, averaging 5.5 ppg. She has scored seven or more points five times.
PRESEASON NOTES
• ASU started the season ranked 15th in both the AP media poll and the USA Today Coaches' poll.
• ASU was picked to finish third in the Pac-12 by the league's coaches (1. Oregon State 2. Stanford 3. ASU) and second by the media who cover the league (1. Oregon State 2. ASU). Junior forward Sophie Brunner was selected to the media's preseason All-Pac-12 team.
CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AWAITS 2015-16 SUN DEVILS
The Arizona State University women's basketball team picked up right where it left off last March – competing against the nation's best teams. Five schools that qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament are included on the Sun Devils' 2015-16 non-conference schedule.
“Our program has set a standard over the years of playing a challenging non-conference schedule that not only gets us prepared for Pac-12 play, but also gives our fans the opportunity to see the kind of top-level, non-conference matchups that often occur in the month of March,” said Turner Thorne, who will be entering her 19th season. “In one year we have gone from a being young team to a veteran squad that features great experience and a lot of core returners and so I think this will be the perfect schedule for them.”
The Sun Devils have gone a combined 30-5 in regular season, non-conference games since the start of the 2013-14 season.
Here are highlights and notes about the Sun Devils' non-conference slate…
• ASU opened its 2015-16 season against Kentucky and dropped a 68-64 decision in overtime. The Wildcats, who are currently No. 7 in the nation, entered this season having qualified for each of the last six NCAA Tournaments, including a trio of Elite Eight appearances. The game was the first ever meeting between the two teams.
• The Sun Devils spent Thanksgiving weekend in Hawaii where they played three games. ASU opened the tournament against 2015 Final Four participant and current No. 2 South Carolina, who went 34-3 last season. The Sun Devils came one win short of meeting South Carolina last season. A victory over Florida State in the Sweet 16 would have propelled ASU into an Elite Eight matchup against the Gameco*cks in the Greensboro Regional final. Last month Sun Devils came within a possession of upsetting the Gameco*cks, falling 60-58 (Nov. 27) as South Carolina hit two free throws with six-tenths of second remaining to claim the win. The Sun Devils played the last 11-plus minutes of the contest vs. South Carolina without starting forward Kelsey Moos and the last 4:27 without starting forward Sophie Brunner. Both players were injured in the second half. Moos would go on to miss four games and Brunner would go on to miss six games.
• Speaking of Florida State, the Sun Devils and Seminoles had a rematch last season's Sweet 16 game when the two teams met in Tempe on Dec. 21. Led by a career-high 23 points from senior guard Arnecia Hawkins, the Sun Devils defeated the No. 10 Seminoles 68-56. The contest between ASU and FSU last March, won by Florida State 66-65, provided fans with one of the NCAA Tournament's most exciting games as the Sun Devils nearly overcame a six-point deficit in the final two minutes. The Seminoles would finish the season 32-5 after coming up short against South Carolina in the ensuing Elite Eight contest.
• The Sun Devils had a two-game East Coast road swing that started with a on Dec. 12 with a 61-54 win at then-No. 19 Syracuse. It was the second time in three seasons that the Sun Devils and Orange battled on the hardwood. In 2013 the Sun Devils came away with a 63-60 win at home in a game that was not decided until the final seconds. Syracuse made its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance last season where it advanced to the second round and finished with a record of 22-10. The Sun Devils concluded the road trip with a 60-29 win at Hartford on Dec. 14.
• ASU closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule on Monday when it hosts CSUN. The Matadors finished 23-10 last season and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year.
• ASU was on the road for four of its five games in November, however five of its seven games this month are at home, including its last three before Pac-12 play begins.
2014-15 RECAP
• ASU made its 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament (its 10th under head coach Charli Turner Thorne) and earned a No. 3 seed in the Greensboro Regional (tied highest NCAA seed in school history)... ASU got off to its best start (18-1) and conference start (7-0) in school history. In addition, ASU reached 20 wins faster than any team in program history (22 games)... ASU's 14-game winning streak (started on Nov. 30 and ended on Jan. 25) was its second longest in school history. Only the 2008-09 team won more games in succession (15)… Tied the 2006-07 squad for the best road record in school history (10-1)… ASU's two wins over Stanford during the regular season represented the first time a conference school swept Stanford during the regular season since 1988... Finished among the nation's Top 30 teams in 3-Point Field Goal Percentage Defense (4th/25.4), Scoring Defense (21st/55.9 ppg), 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (22nd/36.1), Field Goal Percentage (27th/44.0) and Scoring Margin (27th/+11.0... Set the school record for fewest turnovers per game (14.3). Eclipsed the previous record (16.4 by the 2011-12 team) by more than two turnovers per game... Gave up nearly 10 fewer points per game (9.8) in 2014-15 (55.9) compared to the 2013-14 team (65.7).
CHARLI TURNER THORNE HAS SUN DEVIL WBB AMONG NATION'S ELITE
Arizona State head women's basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year in 2015 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.
The all-time winningest coach in program history and No. 2 in the Pac-12 in career wins (362), 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.
In 2013-14, Turner Thorne 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) the previous season 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.
On Jan. 25, 2013, Turner Thorne became the third Pac-12 coach to reach 300 victories following ASU's 60-53 win over USC, a game in which ASU came back from 16 down in the second half. On December 14, 2015, Turner Thorne added another milestone as she won her 400th career game (360 at ASU and 40 at Northern Arizona).
A closer look at Turner Thorne's path to 300 puts into perspective the incredible 180-degree turnaround Sun Devil women's basketball has undergone since she came to ASU. To reach 150 wins it took Turner Thorne 272 games (150-122 - .551) as she rebuilt a 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. It would take her 215 games to get 150 more wins. Since picking up her 150th win at ASU, Turner Thorne is 212-94 (.693).
Last season, Turner Thorne led the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in her ASU tenure.
SUN DEVIL WBB EARNS NO. 7 RANKING IN WBCA ACADEMIC TOP 25
The Arizona State University women's basketball team was among the top 10 women's basketball programs in the classroom in 2014-15. The Sun Devil women's basketball team's combined team GPA of 3.558 was No. 7 among NCAA Division I institutions, according to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) 2015 Academic Team Honor Rolls, announced this past July. ASU was one of only seven schools among the WBCA's Top 25 that also participated in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. On the court, the Sun Devils recorded the best finish of schools appearing in the WBCA's Top 25 after advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Since the 1996-97 season (Charli Turner Thorne's first season at ASU) ASU leads the Pac-12 in the number of first-team All-Academic conference awards (17) and the combined number of first- and second-team All-Academic conference awards (37).
SUN DEVIL WBB SIGNS TOP 10 CLASS FOR NEXT SEASON
On Nov. 11 Arizona State University head women's basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne announced the signing of five student-athletes – Sydney Goodson, Reili Richardson, Jamie Ruden, Kiara Russell and Robbi Ryan – whose outstanding ability, talent and potential for immediate impact have the signing class ranked among the top 10 in the country by espnW HoopGurlz.
Goodson, a 5-8 guard, will be joining the Sun Devils from Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, where she has already led her team to a pair of TAPPS Class 5A state title game appearances. After a runner-up finish in 2013, the Lady Warriors came away with the title in 2015 as Goodson averaged 12.5 points, 3.4 assists and 2.5 steals on her way to earning First-Team All-State honors and being named the District's Offensive Player of the Year.
Richardson will be coming to ASU from Brea Olinda High School in Brea, California. The 5-9 guard averaged 17.4 points as a junior while earning numerous awards, including MaxPreps 2014-15 California All-State Division 3 Second-Team recognition, Southern Section All-Open Division Team and Orange County Register All-County First-Team honors.
A 6-1 post, who has incredible versatility, Ruden has averaged 20 or more points each of the last three seasons for John Marshall High School (Rochester, Minnesota). Ruden is coming off a junior campaign in which she earned AP First-Team All-State and Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association Class 4A All-State recognition after averaging 23 points, eight rebounds and two assists per game in leading John Marshall to a 27-2 record and a state runner-up finish.
Also coming to ASU from the North Star State is Russell, a 5-8 guard out of Osseo High School in Osseo, Minnesota. Like Ruden, Russell also earned 2015 Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association Class 4A All-State honors after a spectacular junior campaign in which she averaged 23.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 3.8 steals.
A 5-9 guard, Ryan enters the 2015-16 season as the reigning Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Wyoming, where she has enjoyed a prolific career at Sheridan High School (Sheridan, Wyoming). Named to the All-State team in each of her first three seasons, Ryan has twice been invited to the U17 Olympic trials for women's basketball and has also competed in the Chicago Nike National Invitation Tournament.
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