ASU Basketball: The True Test Begins Now

After wearing down Washington State and pulling away with a 19-point victory, ASU basketball turns their attention to No. 8 Washington.

The Sun Devils improved to 13-3 and 4-1 in Pac-12 play after defeating the Cougars 68-49.

Forward Sophie Brunner once again led the Sun Devils with another double-double finishing with 20 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.

After only leading 31-30 at halftime, the Sun Devils went on to outscore Washington State 37-19 in the second half as ASU shot 43 percent in the second half.

Arizona State now prepares to face one of the best team in the country in the Washington Huskies.

Washington is ranked No. 8 in the latest AP Poll with their only two losses coming on the road at Notre Dame and Oregon State.

The Huskies are led by the star tandem of guard Kelsey Plum and forward Chantel Osahor.

Entering Friday, Plum is the nation’s leading scorer averaging 30.7 points per game and Osahor is the nation’s leading rebounder averaging 13.7 rebounds per game.

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Arizona State has a lot of familiarity facing this tandem, as the Sun Devils won both meeting versus the Huskies last season.

The difference with Washington is that they have more depth this season.

After the win Friday, Arizona State head coach Charli Turner Thorne said last season you only had to really focus on Plum, Osahor and guard Katie Collier. This season, Thorne said, they have a lot more weapons.

Washington has surrounded itself with a strong core of players to complement Plum and Osahor.

After using at most a 7-player rotation last season, the Huskies have transfer guard Natalie Romeo (9.6 PPG), freshman guard Aarion McDonald (9.2 PPG), Collier (8.0 PPG and 5.9 RPG) and forward Heather Corral (7.1 PPG) to complement Plum and Osahor.

Thorne said facing Washington will be their biggest defensive challenge of the season, especially when it comes to defending Plum and Osahor.

This season, Arizona State has out-rebounded their opponents in every game but one (Maryland), but they will have their hands full dealing with Osahor on the glass.

This will be the first game of brutal four-game stretch versus the best teams in the conference.

After hosting No. 8 Washington Sunday, ASU hits the road to face No. 24 Cal, No. 13 Stanford and No. 17 UCLA.

Next: ASU WBB: Brunner Powers No. 19 ASU to an Emotional Victory

When asked what the differences were between Maryland and Washington, Thorne said they just weren’t ready for the Maryland game in late November because of how young the team is.

This team is about to become battle-tested, and they are ready for the challenge.