ASU women take place among nation's elite
The ASU Women’s basketball team is making its case that it belongs among the nation's elite.<br /><br />In the last five years, the team has finished among the nation's best programs, finishing in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for two of the last three years and Sweet 16 three of the last five. The Sun Devils have been in the NCAA Tournament five straight ties and seven of the last nine.<br /><br />ASU completed its season this year with a run to the Elite Eight of the tournament, losing to the undefeated University of Connecticut 83-64 March 31. UConn is the nation's top-ranked team.<br /><br />ASU, a No. 6 seed, advanced with a win over No. 11 seed Georgia in the opening round, No. 3 seed Florida State in the second round and No. 2 Texas A&M in the regional semifinals.<br /><br />"It's great for Arizona State's Women's Basketball," says head coach Charli Turner Thorne. "For us in 3 years be in the Elite 8 twice hopefully it will gain respect for our program nationally. Hopefully it will make a lot of blossoming young women want to be Sun Devils. I would say that the best recruiting is winning."<br /><br />With 26 wins this season the Sun Devil women have now won 20 or more games seven times in the last nine seasons, including the last five in a row. Earlier this season the Sun Devils established a new program record for consecutive wins with 15, including a 63-41 win over then-No. 9 California on March 5.<br /><br />With its final Pac-10 record of 15-3 the ASU women have won 82 percent (59-13) of its Pac-10 contests since the 2005-06 season. ASU’s 15 Pac-10 wins this season represent the second-highest total in school history. Including this season, the Sun Devil women are 125-41 (.753) since 2004-05.<br /><p>For more on ASU’s NCAA Tournament run, visit <a href="http://thesundevils.com">thesundevils.com</a>.</p>