ASU women's basketball hosts Stanford

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The Arizona State women’s basketball team opens up the Pac-10 portion of its 2008-09 schedule on Friday (6:30 p.m. MT) when it hosts the No. 11 Stanford Cardinal at Wells Fargo Arena.

Friday’s contest will mark the first of back-to-back contests against ranked teams for the Sun Devils, who will close out the weekend on Sunday (2 p.m. MT) when they host No. 13 California. When adding in next week’s contest at Oregon State, the combined record of ASU’s next three opponents is 27-6. The Beavers (9-1) had the best record in the Pac-10 during non-conference play.

The Sun Devils are coming off a tough 62-58 loss at Nebraska on Sunday. Junior Danielle Orsillo scored 16 points (7-11 FGs) to lead the Sun Devils. Also contributing for ASU were senior Sybil Dosty, who tallied her third double-double of the season (14 points, 11 rebounds) and junior Dymond Simon, who returned to the starting lineup and scored 12 points after missing ASU’s previous game against Xavier with a foot injury.

Recent history in Pac-10 play suggests that this weekend’s contests will have a lot to do with which schools will contend for the Pac-10 title. Prior to the 2007-08 season, Stanford and ASU had finished first-second three consecutive years with the Golden Bears finishing third in 2006-07. Last season, Stanford (16-2), California (15-3) and ASU (14-4) finished in first, second, and third place, respectively. 

Stanford has won the regular season Pac-10 title the last eight years and is coming off a season in which it went 35-4 and advanced to the national title game where it fell to Tennessee. Stanford is 2-2 in its last four games since starting the season 7-1. The Cardinal went 9-3 in non-conference play, encountering six ranked foes along the way. Stanford went 3-3 in those game although all three of those losses came on the road, including setbacks at No. 8 Duke (56-52) and at No. 11 Tennessee (79-69 OT). Stanford is led by 2008 All-Pac-10 junior forward/center Jayne Appel (14.3 ppg, 10.2 rpg) and 2008 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year forward Kayla Pedersen (12.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg).

ON THE AIR

Arizona State’s game against Stanford can be heard live on The Fan AM 1060 and on the Sun Devil Sports Network (subscription-based service that can be accessed via www.thesundevils.com). Pre-game coverage will begin at 6 p.m. Valley veteran broadcaster Jeff Munn is in his fifth year as the voice of ASU women’s basketball. 

PROMOTIONS

Pack the House

On Friday the Sun Devils will host their second annual Pack the House night. All fans are encouraged to Pack Wells Fargo Arena as NCAA member schools will compete against schools in their own conference as well as all Division I schools for a chance to be the 2009 NCAA Women's Basketball Pack the House Challenge Champion and win great prizes. If you cannot make it to the game vs. Stanford but would still like to be a part of the Pack the House Challenge, you can! Click here to see how you can purchase group tickets and donate them to local youth organizations.

Emergency Personnel and City of Tempe Weekend

Attention all Emergency Personnel employees and City of Tempe employees and residents. This weekend ASU Women's Basketball is offering you $3 admission to its games against Stanford and California. To receive this special discount just show your ID at the door on game day or fill out the online form by clicking the following links for Emergency Personnel and City of Tempe.

Pink Zone Piggy Bank Giveaway

This Friday and Sunday be one of the first guests to enter Wells Fargo Arena and you could receive an official Pink Zone Piggy Bank! The ASU Women's Basketball team has teamed up with the WBCA to Save Change by Changing Lives. If you receive a Pink Zone Piggy Bank you are encouraged to fill it up with change and bring it back to the Pink Zone game on Saturday, February 7th when the Sun Devils host the Oregon State Beavers and you will receive FREE admission to the game. All donated change will benefit the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Funds. 350 piggy banks will be given out on Friday and 150 on Sunday. For more information regarding Pink Zone click here .

Trading Card Giveaway

At Sunday's game against California, the first 500 fans in the door will receive the second of three trading card sets! Set three will be distributed at the final home game on February 28th vs. Washington State.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

• ASU opens the Pac-10 portion of its schedule after winning eight of 12 non-conference games. The Sun Devils will look to continue the success they have had in Pac-10 play in recent years having won 81 percent (44-10) of their Pac-10 contests the last three seasons. 

• ASU has won its last five Pac-10 openers. 

• Friday’s game against Stanford begins the second half of an arduous six-game stretch against teams that have won a combined 80 percent of their games (as of Dec. 31) – at No. 4 Texas (11-1) on Dec. 18, vs. Xavier (10-4) on Dec. 21, at Nebraska (9-3) on Dec. 28, vs. No. 11 Stanford (9-3) on Jan. 2, vs. No. 13 California (9-2) on Jan. 4 and at Oregon State (9-1) on Jan. 8. 

• The Sun Devils currently lead the Pac-10 in three-point FG percent (.418) and assists per game (18.1). In the most recent NCAA statistics (Dec. 21), ASU was ranked second and third, respectively, in the two categories. 

• Stanford has won nine of the last 11 meetings against ASU. ASU’s last win in the series came on February 16, 2005, a 62-59 decision against then-11th-ranked Stanford in Tempe. Six of the last seven meetings have been decided by single digits. In fact, the six meetings prior to last February’s 79-57 Stanford win in Palo Alto were decided by an average of 5.7 points. 

  • Senior guard Briann January (436 career assists) needs six assists to pass Jodi Rathbun (1983-86) as ASU’s all-time leader. Currently fourth on ASU’s all-time list in steals (229), January needs three more steals to move into third place (Stephanie Freeman, 1995-98) and five more for sole possession of second place (Carrie Buckner (2001-05). January currently leads the Pac-10 in assists (5.4 apg) and steals (3.1). 

• Junior guard Dymond Simon has averaged 16.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in her last two games. 

• Junior guard Danielle Orsillo has had all five of her double-figure scoring performances in ASU’s last seven games, including a pair of season-best 16-point outings. Orsillo returned to the lineup this season after missing all of last season with a knee injury.

• ASU’s leading rebounder last season, senior Sybil Dosty has continued to lead the Sun Devils in boards this season and is currently fifth in the Pac-10, averaging 7.9 rebounds per game. Dosty had her fifth double-digit rebounding performance of the season with 11 at Nebraska on Dec. 28. Dosty has averaged 11.2 points and 8.8 rebounds in ASU’s last six games and has connected on 65 percent of her shots (30-46) during that span. Four of Dosty’s five double-digit scoring performances this season have come in ASU’s last five games. 

• Going back to the start of the 2006-07 season, the Sun Devils are 43-5 when they outrebound their opponent, including a 6-2 record this season.

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS STANFORD

Stanford holds a 45-11 advantage in the all-time series with Arizona State. The Cardinal has won the last five meetings and nine of the last 11 overall, including both meetings last season – 60-56 in Tempe and 79-57 in Palo Alto. 

ASU’s last win in the series came on February 16, 2005, a 62-59 decision against then-11th-ranked Stanford in Tempe.

The Sun Devils defeated the Cardinal 70-63 in the final of the inaugural Pac-10 Women’s Basketball Tournament in 2002. ASU’s lone victory at Stanford came during the 1983-84 season when the Sun Devils defeated Stanford 84-72 on March 3, 1984.  

YOU CAN’T SPELL DEVILS WITHOUT ‘D’

If there is one thing ASU head coach Charli Turner Throrne’s teams have become known for over the years it is defense. The Sun Devils offered another reminder of their excellence in defending on Dec. 6 when they defeated UC Irvine 75-23 to set the single-game Pac-10 record for the fewest points ever allowed by a Pac-10 team. It’s the second time in as many seasons that the Sun Devils have set a conference record for fewest points in a game. Last season the Sun Devils set the standard for the fewest points allowed in a Pac-10 game in their 59-30 win over Washington State. Since the 2005-06 season the Sun Devils have held the opposition to 50 or fewer points 21 times. This season the Sun Devils have accounted for several single-game defensive superlatives in the Pac-10, including fewest points (23), lowest field goal percentage (.209), fewest field goals (9 - tied with Oregon State), fewest field goal attempts (38) and fewest rebounds (19 - twice). In addition, the Sun Devils have held the opposition to 20 or fewer points in a half five times this season.

IT’S BETTER TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE

Finishing 12th in the country in any statistical category would usually be considered great by most standards. That is unless of course a team is used to higher standards. After finishing among the nation’s top 5 in assists in 2005-06 and 2006-07, the Sun Devils slipped to 12th last season. If the season’s first 12 games are any indication it would appear that the Sun Devils have returned to the nation’s elite in the category. At the start of the week ASU led the Pac-10 and was third in the country averaging  18.1 assists per game. The Sun Devils have dished out 20 or more assists four times this season, including a season-best 30 assists vs. Northern Arizona (Dec. 7), the most by any team in the Pac-10 this season.

JANUARY CONTINUES TO DISTINGUISH HERSELF AS ONE OF THE BEST IN THE COUNTRY

Undoubtedly one of the integral components of ASU’s success in recent years has been the play of senior Briann January. Since she arrived in Tempe in 2005, the 5-8 guard from Spokane, Wash., has proven time and again to be one of the most explosive players in the nation on both ends of the floor. Last season January was named the first ever Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in addition to earning Second-Team All-Pac-10 honors for a campaign in which she finished first in the Pac-10 in steals (2.18 spg) and free throw percentage (.864), third in assists (4.39 apg), fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio and 15th in scoring. Earlier this season January was recognized for her outstanding play in being one of six women’s college basketball players around the country to share (along with All-America candidate sophomore James Harden from the Arizona State men’s basketball team) a regional cover on Sports Illustrated’s College Basketball Preview. Thus far in 2008 January has experienced anything but an SI jinx as she currently leads the Pac-10 in assists per game (5.4) and steals per game (3.1), is second in three-point FG pct (.453) and assist-to-turnover ratio, third in 3-point FGs per game (2.4), sixth in free throw pct. (.857) and eighth in scoring (13.3 ppg).  January is steadily making her way up ASU’s lists of all-time leaders in assists, steals and free throws. Currently is second in assists (436, she needs six more to pass Jodi Rathbun as ASU’s all-time assists leader), fourth in steals (229, needs three to pass Stephanie Freeman for third place and five to pass Carrie Buckner for second) and tied for fifth in free throws (336, needs five to pass Cassandra Lander for fourth place). 

ORSILLO STEADILY REGAINING HER GAME

Junior guard Danielle Orsillo has steadily started returning to the form that had so many excited last season before her season ending knee injury. A starter in every game thus far in 2008, Orsillo averaged 3.8 points (18.3 minutes per game) in her first five games back. In her last six games, however, Orsillo has scored 10.3 points per game and has connected on 54 percent (13-24) of her 3-point field goals. All five of her double-figure scoring performances in ASU’s last seven games, including a pair of season-best 16-point outings, most recently at Nebraska (Dec. 28) when she hit seven of her 11 field goal attempts.

SUN DEVILS SIGN THREE

Two local standouts who have achieved exceptional success and a top-notch guard from California highlighted the 2008 women’s basketball signing class for Arizona State announced by Sun Devil head coach Charli Turner Thorne in November. Joy Burke, Deja Mann and Markisha Patterson all signed letters of intent to study and play basketball at ASU. 

A 6-foot-5 post player, Burke was named to The Arizona Republic’s All-Arizona team in 2008 in addition to earning second-team All-Tribune honors from the East Valley Tribune following a season in which she led Tempe Marcos de Niza to the state quarterfinals. During her decorated junior season, Burke averaged 19.8 points, 14.5 rebounds and 5.5 blocks per game. 

A 5-foot-8 combo guard, Mann will be joining the Sun Devils from Merced High School in Merced, Calif. Mann, who was sidelined because of injury her junior season, had an outstanding sophomore campaign in which she averaged nearly 16 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists per game on her way to being named the Central California Conference MVP. Mann, who averaged 14.1 points per game as a freshman, also starred on the Modesto Magic club team this past summer. An outstanding shooter, Mann ranked No. 25 on hoopgurlz.com’s best “Gunners” of the summer. 

A 5-foot-8 guard, Patterson will be coming to ASU from Central Arizona College where last season she helped lead her team to a runner-up finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association championships. Known as a defensive specialist at Central Arizona, Patterson is very familiar with what it takes to win championships. In 2007, she helped lead Tolleson High School to the Class 5A Division II state title after she scored 19 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in the championship game.