The Arizona State women’s basketball (22-10) team will make their sixth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament Friday. The Sun Devils earned a No. 5 seed in the Portland Region and will play against No. 12 University Central Florida Friday in Coral Gables, Florida at 4 p.m. Arizona time. If the Sun Devils win, they will play against the winner of No. 4 Miami and No. 13 Florida Gulf Coast.
The Sun Devils are one of six teams to make it to the Big Dance from the Conference of Champions. The other schools who made the tournament were the regular season Pac-12 conference champion Oregon, Pac-12 Tournament Champion Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA and California.
Head coach Charli Turner Thorne is in her 22nd season coaching the women’s team. This season, she believes the team will rely on their defense and rebounding to go far in the Big Dance.
This year’s squad has shown their experience all season as the team did not lose any players to graduation from their 2018 squad. In 2018, the Sun Devils were knocked out by Texas in the second round of the Big Dance. Turner Thorne comes in to the 2019 Big Dance with high expectations for her talented veteran squad and believes they will be prepared to play against UCF.
“I know they’re a very athletic team that presses and plays a lot of aggressive zone press,” Turner Thorne said. “They have played UConn a few times, they have played some really good teams.”
Arizona State finished 6th in the Pac-12 after getting knocked out by the UCLA Bruins in the quarterfinals. The Sun Devils are averaging just over 62 points a game, with their identity focused in on the defensive end. The Sun Devils are known for out rebounding bigger teams, despite that their starting forward, Charnea Johnson Chapman is just over 6 feet tall.
“We are averaging 62 points a game, so figure it out,” Turner Thorne said. “So we need to bring the heat on defense… Now we play in the best conference in the country, so I will throw that out there. And just how selfless they have been this whole year is what has stood out. We have 14 healthy eligible players… they have just been all about team. Everybody adds value in their own way. That has been really special this year about this team.”
While the Sun Devils travel across three time zones for their opening round game, UCF, Miami and Florida Gulf Coast will all remain in the state for the opening rounds. Despite the far travel, ASU is confident they will play better being “shipped out.” This team has always thrived in being the underdog, as the Devils have already played against many top ranked teams in the tournament field in hostile environments throughout the season.
In the 2019 NCAA Tournament, the one seeds are Baylor, Notre Dame, Louisville and Mississippi State. The Sun Devils played against Baylor and Louisville, narrowly losing to both No. 1 seeds. Despite the losses, the Devils have proven they can rise to the occasion no matter the opponent or the location.
In big games, the Devils have relied on their senior captains, Courtney Ekmark and Kianna Ibis. Ibis and Ekmark have been cornerstones for an ASU team that believes they are fully equipped to play ball deep into March. The Sun Devils’ road to the Final Four will not be easy, but then again, that is the magic of March. It was never meant to be easy, it was meant to bring out the best in all 64 teams playing in it.
The Sun Devils have worked all season to play in the Big Dance and as March Madness starts, their season will be on the line. This team’s big dance begins Friday in Coral Gables, Florida against No. 12 UCF.
