Devils in Detail
Fansided

ASU WBB: Devils to Face Bears After Previous 2OT Win

By Leah Soto

Mar 23, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils forward Sophie Brunner (21) drives against UALR Trojans forward Shanity James (20) during the second half in the second round of the women
Mar 23, 2015; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils forward Sophie Brunner (21) drives against UALR Trojans forward Shanity James (20) during the second half in the second round of the women /
facebooktwitterreddit

Coming off a loss to Washington, ASU basketball is set to play their second game against California.

No. 18 ASU is facing a team ranked No. 21 whom they’ve already beaten this season.

Arizona State struggled to secure the win against Cal earlier in the season, it was only after two overtimes that they finally were able to close it out with a final score of 72-62. Seniors Sophie Brunner and Quinn Dornstauder played a large role. Brunner contributed 21 points while her teammate did 19. This game resulted in a Kelsey Moos foot injury, Moos will not return until next month.

Prior to that game on January 1, California was undefeated. Since then, Cal has dropped to a 2-4 record in conference play, giving them a 14-4 overall record.

More from Devils in Detail

Recently, the Sun Devils lost to the highest-ranked team in the Pac-12, Washington University, 65-54. Despite out shooting Washington, Arizona State struggled to shut-down the Huskies’ offense in the paint. Freshman and starting guard Reili Richardson was injured early in the fourth quarter, but was ready to go near the end of the game. She led the team with 11 points, a career-high seven rebounds and seven assists.

On the other side of the court, the Bears are also entering the game off a loss. Utah beat them 63-57 last Sunday despite a double-double from California’s Kristine Anigwe (22 points, 10 rebounds).

Anigwe has been solid for Cal. The sophomore is leading the team by averaging a double-double of 23.6 points per game and 10 rebounds per game. Behind her is senior Courtney Range who is averaging 12.3 points per game.

Meanwhile, Brunner leads ASU with an average of 12.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Richardson follows her with an average of 9.7 points and a team-leading 4.1 assists per game (71 total).

As a team, the Bears are shooting 48 percent from the field while the Sun Devils are shooting 43.9 percent. Nonetheless, Arizona State is among the top third in defensive scoring and has so far held all six of their conference opponents to at least 12 points below their respective scoring averages.

Next: ASU WBB: ASU Devastated in Top-20 Matchup

ASU is set to face-off against California on Friday at 9:00 p.m. MST, the game can be seen on the Pac-12 Network.