ASU women's basketball ranked No. 16 in AP preseason poll

The Arizona State women’s basketball team is ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press preseason poll, which was released on Friday.

The Sun Devils return senior starters forward Kayli Murphy and guard Danielle Orsillo from last year’s team that earned the team’s second Elite Eight berth in the last three years and set the school record for most consecutive wins (15).

Overall, ASU is one of 20 schools whose current streak of NCAA appearances is 5 or more, one of 15 schools that has qualified for the Sweet 16 three or more times in the last five seasons and one of 9 schools that has qualified for the Elite Eight at least two times in the last three years.

The 2009-10 Sun Devils will make their debut next Thursday when they host Vanguard in an exhibition contest at 6 p.m. in Wells Fargo Arena. ASU officially opens its regular season Sunday, November 15 when it hosts 2009 NCAA Participant South Dakota State.