ASU women's basketball hosts Arizona for State Farm Territorial Cup showdown

January 14, 2011

<a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/011111aab.html&qu…; target="_blank">IMPORTANT TRAFFIC/PARKING INFO FOR SUNDAY'S GAME</a><separator></separator><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/asu/sports/w-bas…; target="_blank">Game Notes in PDF Format</a><separator></separator>UP NEXT Following a tough road trip to the Bay Area, the Arizona State women’s basketball team begins a three-game homestand on Sunday (3 p.m. MT) when it hosts the Arizona Wildcats as part of the State Farm Territorial Cup Series.<separator></separator>After reeling off seven consecutive wins, which included a 2-0 start in Pac-10 play, the Sun Devils (10-4, 2-2 Pac-10) went on the road for assignments at Cal (lost 67-55) and at Stanford (lost 82-35) where they dropped consecutive games for the first time this season.<separator></separator>An injury to the right foot of senior guard <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/simon_dymond01.html">D… Simon</a>, ASU’s leader in scoring and assists, limited the effectiveness of the team’s attack as the Sun Devils shot a combined 30 percent in the two games. The most notable performance from last week’s contests came from senior forward <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/tobin_becca00.html">Be… Tobin</a>, who scored a career-high 24 points (11-17 FGs) at Cal.<separator></separator>One factor that should help the Sun Devils regroup from last weekend’s setbacks is playing at home where they are 7-0 this season and have outscored the opposition by an average of 16.0 points a game. Sunday’s game is the first of three straight ASU will play at Wells Fargo Arena. Next Thursday ASU will host Washington State at 11 a.m. as a part of the annual Sparky’s Kids to College Field Trip Game in which several thousand fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students from around the Valley will be in attendance. The Sun Devils will then close out their three-game homestand when they host Washington (Sat., Jan. 22 at 4 p.m.).<separator></separator>Like the Sun Devils, Arizona (11-4, 2-2 Pac-10) also had its difficulties in the Bay Area last week, falling to Stanford (87-54) and Cal (80-60). Prior to last week’s losses Arizona was off to its best start since the 2003-04 season. Also like ASU, Arizona knocked off the Oregon schools during the first weekend of conference play which gave the Wildcats their first 2-0 start in the Pac-10 since 2004-05. Arizona has two of the top 10 scorers in the Pac-10 in the form of sophomore G Davellyn Whyte (15.0 ppg) and senior F Ify Ibekwe (14.7 ppg). Ibekwe also leads the Pac-10 in rebounding (10.5 rpg).   TELEVISION/RADIO Sunday’s game can be seen live on Fox Sports Net. Jim Watson (play by play) and Mary Murphy (analysis) will be calling the action.<separator></separator>Sunday’s game can also be heard live on The Fan AM 1060. Pre-game coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. Vince Marotta and former Sun Devil women’s basketball head coach Maura McHugh will have the call.<separator></separator>WHAT TO LOOK FOR • ASU has won 74 percent of its Pac-10 contests (70-24) since the 2005-06 season. • Since 2004 ASU has won 85 percent (84-15) of the games it has played at Wells Fargo Arena. • ASU leads the all-time series with Arizona 46-25. The Sun Devils have won 11 of the last 12 meetings, including the last 10 in succession. The winning streak aside, the games between the two schools have been extremely competitive as five of the last seven contests have been decided by eight points or less. • Last season <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/tobin_becca00.html">Be… Tobin</a> scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/watson_tenaya00.html">… Watson</a> scored a (then) career-best 14 points to help the Sun Devils to a 73-67 win in the first ASU-UA meeting in Tucson. Less than a month later in Tempe <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/earl_alex00.html">Alex Earl</a> hit all three of her career-high-tying 3-point field goals in the second half to help spark the Sun Devils to a 57-49 come-from-behind win. • ASU is 9-0 this season when it has outrebounded the opposition (1-4 when it hasn’t). ASU is also 9-1 in games it has led at the half. The only loss in that instance came against Florida State (led 26-23 at the half). • The Sun Devils currently have two of the top four free throw percentage leaders in the Pac-10 - <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/watson_tenaya00.html">… Watson</a> (.842 - 2nd) and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/simon_dymond01.html">D… Simon</a> (.806 - 4th). As a team the Sun Devils are No. 2 in the Pac-10 in FT pct (.701). ASU shot a season-best 91 percent (19-21) from the charity stripe in its win over Oregon on Jan. 2. • ASU checked in at No. 17 in the NCAA’s most recent RPI report (Jan. 10). The four schools ASU has lost to includes Tennessee (No. 2 RPI), Stanford (No. 3 RPI), Florida State (No. 15 RPI) and Cal (No. 38 RPI). Earlier this season the Sun Devils defeated DePaul (No. 9 RPI). • Senior G <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/simon_dymond01.html">D… Simon</a> (16.0 ppg) and junior F <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/brandon_kimberly00.htm… Brandon</a> (12.0 ppg) combined to average 28.0 ppg during ASU’s recent seven-game winning streak. Brandon also averaged 9.4 rebounds per game during that span while shooting nearly 59 percent (37-63) from the field.

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