ASU women's basketball ranked No. 12 in preseason coaches' poll

TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State women's basketball team is ranked No. 12 in the country, according to the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 coaches' preseason poll released Wednesday. For ASU, the No. 12 ranking ties the highest rating it has ever received in a preseason poll. Last season the Sun Devils were also tabbed preseason No. 12 in the coaches' poll before eventually finishing the season No. 8.

The 2007-08 Sun Devils return 10 players, including three starters - guards Briann January, Jill Noe and Reagan Pariseau - and several other significant contributors from last season's Elite Eight squad, which set single-season school records for most overall wins (31), most Pac-10 wins (16) and most road wins (10). In addition to regaining the services of All-Pac-10 Freshman guard Dymond Simon, who missed the last 16 games of last season with a knee injury, the Sun Devils will also receive a boost from the addition of junior posts Sybil Dosty (transfer from the University of Tennessee) and Lauren Lacey (transfer from the University of Minnesota), who both sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, and from talented incoming freshmen Becca Tobin (Glendale Cactus) and Stephanie Wilber (Auburn Riverside, Auburn, Wash.).

The 2007-08 Sun Devils will make their debut next Thursday (Nov. 8) when they host the USA National Team in an exhibition contest at 6:30 p.m. in Wells Fargo Arena. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (480) 727-0000. ASU officially opens its regular season on Sunday, Nov. 11 (2:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. MT) when it travels to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on No. 7 North Carolina in the 2007 State Farm Tip-Off Classic. The game will be televised live by ESPN.