Devils in Detail
Fansided

ASU Women’s Basketball: Sun Devils return home to host 2017 ASU Classic

By Sam Ficarro

TEMPE, AZ - NOVEMBER 14: Arizona State Sun Devils masct, 'Sparky' performs during the college football game against the Washington Huskies at Sun Devil Stadium on November 14, 2015 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the Huskies 27-17. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ - NOVEMBER 14: Arizona State Sun Devils masct, 'Sparky' performs during the college football game against the Washington Huskies at Sun Devil Stadium on November 14, 2015 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the Huskies 27-17. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

After going 1-2 in the Cancun Challenge over the Thanksgiving holiday, ASU women’s basketball returns home to host the 2017 ASU Classic.

ASU women’s basketball enjoyed some much needed rest as the Sun Devils will tip off the 2017 ASU Classic Saturday for their first game in a week.

Arizona State is coming off a 1-2 week in the Cancun Challenge losing to No. 7 Mississippi State and Green Bay, while ending the tournament with a blowout win over Columbia.

In the first two games, Arizona State started slow and trailed by double-digits after the first quarter. Against the Bulldogs, ASU came back and led by one point heading into the fourth quarter.

That is when Mississippi State center Teaira McCowan took over the game scoring 13 of her 15 points in the final frame to secure the win for the Bulldogs.

Against Green Bay, it was much of the same as the Sun Devils couldn’t get off to a strong start and trailed for the majority of the game as the Phoenix suffocated the Sun Devils.

Arizona State ended their trip in Cancun with a win over Columbia behind four players scoring in double-digits with guard Robbi Ryan and forward Jamie Ruden scoring 12 points.

The Sun Devils, sitting at 5-2, will host the 2017 ASU Classic which features a match-up with Buffalo Saturday and a meeting with either UNLV or UC Riverside Sunday.

Buffalo sits at 4-0 this season with the last two games resulting in a 10-point win over Nebraska and a 20-point win over Clemson in the San Juan Shootout last week.

Against Clemson, the Bulls held the Tigers to just 27.8 percent shooting from the field.

Buffalo is led by junior guard Cierra Dillard who’s averaging 13.3 points per game, 4.5 assists per game and 4.8 steals per game.

In the frontcourt, the player to watch for the Bulls is center Cassie Oursler who’s averaging 12.8 points per game.

Depending on the result of that game, the Sun Devils will face UNLV or UC Riverside Sunday.

UNLV is sitting at 4-1 this season with their four-game winning streak snapped last Sunday versus Minnesota in the Lady Rebel Round-Up.

The Rebels are led by forward Katie Powell and guard Brooke Johnson.

Powell is the team’s leading scorer averaging 16.4 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game this season while Johnson is right behind Powell in scoring with 16.2 points per game and 3.6 assists per game.

UC Riverside holds a 1-6 record with their only win coming Nov. 19 at Fresno State, who the Sun Devils also defeated.

The Highlanders have played a tough non-conference schedule facing three Pac-12 teams so far losing to USC by 18 points at home, at Stanford by 10 points and at UCLA by 20 points.

Guard Michelle Curry leads the way for UC Riverside averaging 11.2 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game with forward Skyler Lewis averaging 7.9 points per game and 8.0 rebounds per game.

Arizona State will look to win the ASU Classic for the second consecutive year and build some momentum before a tough road game at Florida State next Sunday.

Tip-off for both game this weekend is set for 2:30 p.m. MT with Saturday’s game televised on Pac-12 Arizona and Sunday’s game streamed on the ASU Live Stream.