ASU Women’s Basketball: No. 17 Devils open season with showdown against untested Wildcats

(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)

The last time an Arizona State athletic squad made the trip down to Tucson, it resulted in one of the most stunning comebacks in Territorial Cup history on the gridiron.

Now, the Maroon and Gold return to Tucson Sunday evening on the basketball court, with the sizzling hot No. 17 ASU women’s basketball team (9-2) on a seven-game winning streak entering conference play.

Their opponent is a revamped Arizona Wildcats squad that has seemingly made big strides forward. The team that went an abysmal 6-24 last year, including 2-16 in conference play, now owns the third best record in the Pac-12 (10-1) entering this season’s conference play. Head coach Adia Barnes seems to have her team on the right track as they host arch rival ASU to open up the Pac-12 slate.

ASU may have swept both games last year, but this year’s Wildcats team is a whole different animal. Here’s what to expect for this in-state rivalry game.

Outlook

For Arizona State, the team’s identity of depth, consistency and experience form the strengths of the team and have been key to their current seven-game winning streak.

ASU is exceptional at taking care of the ball, ranking in the top ten in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. Junior guard Reili Richardson has directed the offense masterfully, ranking fourth the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.93). With a roster rich with upperclassmen, the Devils do not make a lot of careless mistakes.

Down in the post, Kianna Ibis has been the team’s go-to offensive weapon, leading the team with 12.2 points per contest. Courtney Ekmark has been knocking down three-pointers all season long at a 36.8 percent clip.

One of the pleasant surprises for the Devils has been the immediate impact of their freshmen class. Jamie Loera and Taya Hanson have been tremendous threats from the outside and Iris Mbulito has seen quality minutes all season long.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Wildcats sport a 10-1 record coming into the game. However that number is a little misleading. The Wildcats have not played any team with an RPI ranking better than No. 59 Idaho State. Their average opponent has an RPI of just 197, more than 80 more than the average of ASU’s opponents.

With ASU’s RPI and AP rankings both inside the Top 25, this game will be the toughest test for the Wildcats this season.

Arizona is led by Washington transfer Aari McDonald, who is having a marvelous season for the Wildcats, averaging over 25 points per game. Cat Reese is the Courtney Ekmark counter for Arizona. Reese is a threat from behind the arc, averaging 38 percent on her three-point attempts.

To stop Arizona, a team that has been beating their opponents by an average of 26.3 points a game, ASU must contain the supporting cast for McDonald and Reese.

That was a formula employed by ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne in their matchup against Kansas State. ASU let Kansas State’s top two players, Kayla Goth and Peyton Williams, outscore the rest of their team by 21 points. ASU can live with McDonald and Reese going off, but they have to limit the rest of the team if they want to control the pace of the game.

The Sun Devils open Pac-12 play against their archrivals and would love to get a rivalry win to kick off the Pac-12 season. Arizona wants a win over a ranked team to legitamize their early-season burst and state their case as contenders in the conference for the first time in over a decade.

Tipoff between the Devils and Wildcats is set for 5 p.m. MST from McKale Memorial Center in Tucson.

Prediction

Arizona State is an experienced team with contributors all over the roster who has not lost in over a month. I predict that Arizona State will prevail on Sunday, but their margin of victory will be very telling for both teams.