Devils in Detail
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ASU Basketball: Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Top 4 Rankings

By Sam Ficarro

Mar 8, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Both Stanford Cardinal and California Golden Bears warm up before the finals of the Pac-12 Women
Mar 8, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Both Stanford Cardinal and California Golden Bears warm up before the finals of the Pac-12 Women /
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Mar 23, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils forward Kelsey Moos (24) and forward Sophie Brunner (21) go after the ball during the second half against the UALR Trojans in the second round of the women
Mar 23, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils forward Kelsey Moos (24) and forward Sophie Brunner (21) go after the ball during the second half against the UALR Trojans in the second round of the women /

4. Arizona State Sun Devils

Arizona State is coming off one of their best seasons in program history last season after finishing 25-5 in the regular season, and an impressive 16-2 record in the Pac-12 earning them a share of the Pac-12 title. ASU’s historic season ended in disappointment as they were upset by Cal in the second round of the Pac-12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament by Tennessee.

The end of the season also meant the departure of the highly successful senior class that featured guards Elisha Davis, Katie Hempen and Arnecia Hawkins.

This season, Arizona State sits with a 9-2 record. It was a shaky beginning to the season for head coach Charli Turner Thorne and the Sun Devils. After beginning the season with two dominant wins, they lost two straight on the road at Marquette and versus then-No. 6 Maryland in the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas.

The Maryland loss was a wake-up call for the Sun Devils as they lost that game 83-42. Since then, Arizona State is entering Pac-12 play with a seven game winning streak, including wins over then-No. 19 Florida and at Rupp Arena versus then-No. 15 Kentucky, getting back to basics of great defense and rebounding to set up their offense.

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While three highly impactful seniors on- and off-the-court graduated, the pressure and leadership have fallen on the shoulders of forwards Sophie Brunner, Kelsey Moos and Quinn Dornstauder. All three got off to slow starts, but Brunner in particular has really turned it on. Brunner is leading the team averaging 11.6 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game on 58.4 percent shooting.

While Brunner is the go-to player for the Sun Devils, Arizona State is a well-balanced teams with each player on the roster contributing. Among those is the highly-touted freshman class.

Ranked in the Top 10 by espnW HoopGurlz, they have exceeded expectations in the early going with guards Reili Richardson and Robbi Ryan leading the way. Richardson has done a great job filling for the injured guard Kiara Russell as Richardson is averaging 8.3 PPG and a team-high 4.3 assists per game. Ryan has been a spark plug off the bench averaging 7.9 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 22.5 minutes per game.

The Sun Devils have arguably the most depth in the conference. Thorne has said that she believes this is the deepest and quickest team she’s had in her 20-year tenure as Arizona State head coach.

The Sun Devils’ biggest question is if they score enough points and if they can limit the turnovers. ASU is averaging 16.4 turnovers per game, which is high mark for a Thorne-coached team, but part of that comes from the youth of this team.

Arizona State will open up Pac-12 play this weekend versus No. 13 Stanford and No. 21 California.