Devils in Detail
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ASU Basketball: Sun Devils Face Utah in Tournament Opener

By Sam Ficarro

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's NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. The Sun Devils won 57-54. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
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's NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. The Sun Devils won 57-54. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports /
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ASU basketball women’s team begins play in the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament versus Utah. Arizona State beat Utah 66-44 in January.

ASU basketball women’s team opens up play Thursday in the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament versus the Utah Utes.

The Sun Devils split their final two games of the regular season defeating USC 69-62 and falling to UCLA 55-52 on Senior Day.

Arizona State finished the regular season at 18-11 and 9-9 in Pac-12 play with the majority of conference play without senior forward Kelsey Moos.

Moos played the final four games of the regular season and was inserted right back into the starting lineup.

While not stuffing the stats sheet, Moos has provided her stout defense and rebounding abilities back to ASU as well as being an emotional leader.

Arizona State and Utah faced only once in the regular season and that was on January 6 when the Sun Devils won in Salt Lake City 66-44.

ASU got off to a quick start shooting the ball and the deficit in the first half proved to be too large for the Utes.

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Center Quinn Dornstauder led the Sun Devils with 15 points and 9 rebounds with guards Reili Richardson and Robbi Ryan pitching in for 10 points each.

The Sun Devils shot 40 percent from the field, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range.

ASU’s defense also did a great job limiting Utah to a season-low 44 points.

Utah shot 32 percent from the field and shot 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Utah’s best player, forward Emily Potter, was held to just 4 points on 2-of-10 shooting and 6 rebounds.

Guard Tanaeya Boclair led the Utes with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists.

Arizona State would like to replicate the same results the second time around but a lot has changed with both teams in the 2 months since their last meeting.

A key for Arizona State is to limit Potter’s production.

Potter is the team’s leading scorer averaging 13.8 points per game and leading rebounder averaging 8.3 rebounds per game.

The junior forward also leads the Pac-12 with 86 blocks, which is good for eighth in the nation.

If the Sun Devils can limit Potter, it will put all the pressure on the other Utah players to contribute in bunches.

Arizona State will also have more depth this time around with Moos active for this game and a healthy guard Kiara Russell, who returned from injury in the January meeting.

It’s also important for Arizona State to shoot well from the perimeter as ASU is a more dangerous team when the Sun Devils are draining jumpers.

Next: ASU Basketball: Pac-12 Women’s Tournament Roundtable

The winner of this game will face the fourth-seeded UCLA Bruins in the quarterfinals. Tip-off of Arizona State-Utah is set for 3 p.m. MST and can be seen on Pac-12 Network.