Sun Devil WBB hosts No. 6 Arizona on Friday night
THE GAME: Sun Devil WBB (11-8, 3-3 Pac-12) vs. No. 6/7 Arizona (17-3, 7-3 Pac-12)
WHEN: Friday at 7 p.m. MST
WHERE: Desert Financial Arena • Click here for tickets
WATCH: Pac-12 Network, Arizona (Cindy Brunson, Joan Bonvicini)
LISTEN: KDUS AM 1060 (Jeff Munn/Maura McHugh)
LIVE STATS: Click here
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Coming off a home sweep of the Oregon schools, the Sun Devil women's basketball team hosts No. 6 Arizona on Friday (7 p.m. MST) at Desert Financial Arena. This will be the first of consecutive contests against Arizona. The two teams will reconvene in Tucson for a Super Sunday matinee (12 p.m. MST).
The Sun Devils (11-8, 3-3 Pac-12) come into this weekend's action tied for sixth place in winning percentage with UCLA (10-7, 5-5) in the Pac-12 standings. Friday's game is the first of five contests the Sun Devils will play in 10 days. Sunday's game at Arizona will be the first of four straight games – at Arizona (Sunday), at Cal (Wednesday), at Washington State (Fri., Feb. 18) and at Washington (Sun., Feb. 20) – ASU will play on the road.
After coming up short in its upset bid at No. 19 Oregon (72-58) on Feb. 1 – ASU's first makeup game this season – the Sun Devils came back to capture home wins over Oregon State (67-57 on Friday) and evened the score with Oregon, upsetting the Ducks 55-49 on Sunday. Jade Loville (19.3 ppg) and Taya Hanson (10.3 ppg) averaged double figures in the three games. Loville poured in 33 points in Friday's win over the Beavers. Loville's 34 points in ASU's win at San Diego (Dec. 18) represent the single-game high by a Pac-12 player this season. The 33-point performance vs. OSU tied the second-highest single-game total in the Pac-12.
If the remainder of February's schedule stays true, the Sun Devils will have played the most games in the month of February in program history (10). Four previous squads played nine: 1975-76, 1976-77, 1981-82, 2015-16.
Only Cal (10-6, 1-4) has played fewer Pac-12 games than the Sun Devils who had games postponed on seven different dates. The other 10 teams have played anywhere between eight and 11 conference games. ASU made up one postponement at Oregon (Feb. 1) and will make up another at Cal on Wednesday.
Arizona (17-3, 7-3/third place in the Pac-12) won all 10 of its non-conference games. All three of its losses have come in Pac-12 play and on the road: at USC, at Oregon, at Stanford. By the end of the day on Sunday, the contest in Tucson will have represented the last of six consecutive games the Sun Devils will have played against teams in the top third of the Pac-12 standings.
SERIES NOTES VERSUS ARIZONA
• The Sun Devils have won 29 of the last 37 meetings, however Arizona has won four of the last six meetings.
• Arizona's 58-53 win on Dec. 29, 2019 was its first in Tempe since 2000... ASU swept the season series in 2015, 2016 & 2018 and split with the Wildcats in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
• Last season each team held serve on its respective home court: Arizona 65-37 in Tucson and ASU 66-64 (OT) in Tempe. Jaddan Simmons scored 11 of her 15 points over the last 9:20 (last 4:20 of regulation and 5:00 of OT) of the game and was awarded Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors after the win. The 100th 3-pointer of Taya Hanson's career broke a 62-62 tie in the extra period and gave the Sun Devils a lead they would not relinquish.
STATE OF PLAY
• Through games played Feb. 9, ASU has an NCAA Net ranking of 43, one of six Pac-12 teams in the Top 50 (Stanford - 3, Arizona - 7, Oregon - 8, Utah - 21, Colorado - 35).
• Two Sun Devils have started every game: Jaddan Simmons and Taya Hanson – both returning starters from last season's squad.
• Simmons: Leads ASU in assists (3.0 apg/12th in Pac-12), steals (1.79 spg/5th in the Pac-12) and is tied for first in FTs made (50) and attempted (67), is 4th in 3-pointers (14) and 5th in rebounds (3.4 rpg).
• Hanson: Is 2nd on the team in 3-pointers (24), tied for 2nd in blocks (0.7 bpg), is 3rd in assists (2.4 apg) and steals (1.4 spg) and 4th in rebounds (3.5 rpg). Hanson scored a season-high 17 points and tied her career high with seven rebounds in ASU's OT win over No. 22 Colorado (Jan. 21). She matched her season high in scoring (17 points) in ASU's win over Oregon State (Feb. 4) and matched her career high in rebounds (seven) in ASU's win over Oregon (Feb. 6). Hanson has made all 17 of her FTs in Pac-12 play.
• Transfers Jade Loville (Boise State) and Mael Gilles (graduate transfer from Rutgers) have both started all 18 games they have played in.
• Loville: Leads ASU in scoring (16.5 ppg/4th in Pac-12), 3-pointers (29), FG pct (45.4/14th in Pac-12) and 3-point FG pct. (43.9/4th in Pac-12) and is tied for first in FTs made (50) and attempted (67). On Dec. 18, Loville became the fourth Sun Devil to score 30 or more points since 2000, as the 2021 All-Mountain West honoree dropped 34 points (most in the Pac-12 as of Feb. 10) in ASU's 79-60 win over San Diego. She repeated the feat by accounting for 19 of her game-high 33 points (tied for 2nd-highest total in the Pac-12 this season) in the second half of ASU's win over Oregon State (Feb. 4). DNP for precautionary reasons in ASU's contest vs. Colorado (Jan. 21).
• Gilles: Currently paces the team in rebs (7.67 rpg/t5th in the Pac-12), offensive rebs (2.44 rpg/5th in Pac-12) and blocks (1.28 bpg/10th in Pac-12) and is 2nd in scoring (9.4 ppg), steals (1.72 spg/9th in Pac-12) & assists (2.5 apg). Gilles has three double-doubles and has just missed the feat three other times. She has scored in double figures 7x – including career-high 18 points at Creighton – and grabbed 11 or more rebs 5x. DNP for precautionary reasons in ASU's contest vs. Lipscomb (Dec. 30).
• Jayde Van Hyfte, the only Sun Devil on last season's roster to start every game in 2019-20, made her 2021-22 debut in the season's eighth game after not having played since the 2020-21 season opener. She has started every game she has played in – ASU's last 12 games – and is shooting 65.5 pct (19-29 FGs) from the floor.
• After starting the first seven games, Maggie Besselink missed ASU's next six games due to injury. She returned to action vs. Colorado (Jan. 21) before missing ASU's contest vs. Oregon State (Feb. 4) and returned vs. Oregon (Feb. 6). In per-game averages, Besselink is 2nd on the team in rebounds (5.3 rpg) and offensive rebounds (2.3 rpg). Her career-high 15 rebounds in the season's second game vs. Minnesota are the most by a Sun Devil this season. Besselink started 14 of the 18 games she played in last season and led the team in rebounds (5.7 rpg/16th in the Pac-12).
• Transfers Ayzhiana Basallo (two games missed) and Isadora Sousa (11 games missed) have also missed time due to injury. Basallo is currently second on the team in 3-point FG pct. (38.6/12th in the Pac-12), 3rd in 3-pointers (17) and 4th in assists (1.5 apg). She scored 7 of her 10 points in the 3rd quarter of ASU's win over Oregon (Feb. 6).
• Katelyn Levings (one start) is tied for 2nd on the team in blocks (0.7 bpg), is 3rd in rebounds (3.6 rpg) and offensive rebounds (1.4 rpg) and is shooting 92 percent (11-12) from the free throw line.
• Gabriela Bosquez (one start) is 5th on team in steals/0.5 spg and 5th in assists/1.1 apg and is shooting 83 pct/10-12 from the line... Sydney Erikstrup (scored career-high eight points vs. Marist)... Imogen Greenslade is 4th in offensive rebounds (1.1 rpg). She grabbed career-high 11 rebounds in ASU's win vs. Harvard).
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• As of Feb. 10, ASU is ranked among the top third in the Pac-12 in 3-pt FG pct. defense (2nd/28.8), scoring defense (3rd/58.0) and offensive rebounds (3rd/13.37 rpg).
• Jade Loville went over the 1,000-point mark in career scoring with a game-high 19 points at No. 2 Stanford (Jan. 28). In Pac-12 games, Loville currently leads the league in scoring (19.2 ppg). She has averaged 15.5 ppg in the second half of last two games.
• The Ls that could have been Ws: ASU was... outscored 12-5 in OT loss to Minnesota (Nov. 12)... within 7 points in the 4th quarter at BYU (Nov. 17)... down by as many as 17, ASU got within 5 points in the 4th quarter vs. Houston in Cancun (Nov. 25)... led by 7 in the 4th quarter at Creighton (Dec. 12)... down by as many as 29, ASU got within 6 points twice in the 4th quarter vs. Utah (Jan. 23)... entered fourth quarter at Oregon (Feb. 1) within 3 points of the Ducks.
• The team's active career leader in 3-pointers (137/tied for 3rd place on ASU's all-time list), Taya Hanson needs 24 triples to tie Kylan Loney (161/2001-05) for 2nd place. The top spot is held by Katie Hempen (185/2014-16).
• Four players have led or tied for the team lead in scoring this season – Loville (10x), Simmons (4x), Hanson (4x), Gilles (4x).
• Defensively, ASU has given up 55 or fewer points 10x this season. In its 57-52 OT win over Colorado (Jan. 21), ASU held CU nearly 18 points below its scoring average. CU's 52 points tied its lowest point total of the season. It needed the five additional minutes in OT to reach that as the Buffaloes had 46 points in regulation. ASU held Oregon more than 24 points below its average in its 55-49 upset of the No. 19 Ducks (Feb. 6).
• ASU has allowed 13 or fewer points in a quarter 37x this season.
• ASU has allowed an average of only 57.3 ppg since the start of the 2014-15 season (a span of 243 games). It has held the opposition to 50 or less points 73 times during that stretch (ASU is 69-4 in those contests).
• Including its 8-5 record this season, ASU is 81-18 (.818) in non-conference, regular season games since 2013.