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ASU Basketball: Sun Devils prepare for road game at Stanford

By Carson Field

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 11: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil stands on the court during a first-round game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the USC Trojans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 11, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. USC won 67-64. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 11: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil stands on the court during a first-round game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the USC Trojans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 11, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. USC won 67-64. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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After splitting last weekend’s games with the mountain schools, ASU women’s basketball looks to defeat Stanford like they did earlier in January.

The No. 25 Arizona State women’s basketball team travels to the Bay Area this weekend for games against Stanford and Cal. ASU starts the weekend Friday when the Sun Devils take on Stanford.

The last time these teams played was Jan. 7 when ASU overcame a double-digit deficit to defeat the Cardinal 73-66 at Wells Fargo Arena.

Since that game, ASU is 1-3 with losses to Oregon State, Oregon and Utah, but the Sun Devils ended the three-game skid with a win over Colorado last Sunday.

Stanford, on the other hand, is 6-2 in conference play and third in the Pac-12. The Cardinal are 3-1 since the loss to Arizona State.

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A big factor to ASU’s win over Stanford in the first matchup was the boards as the Sun Devils out-rebounded Stanford 47-24. Junior Kianna Ibis said the team will need to once again control the boards if ASU wants to leave the Bay Area with two more wins.

“We definitely want to key in on rebounding again, as that definitely helped us come out with two wins against them because they’re great rebounding teams,” Ibis said. “Also, just being attentive to what their game plans are and what our game plan is.”

Ibis currently leads the team in scoring, and head coach Charli Turner Thorne said this is what she expected of Ibis from the start.

“It’s the progress we expected to see,” Turner Thorne said. “Kianna was a big-time prospect, and then she hurt her knee her senior year in high school. So what she was going to be coming out of high school if she never hurt her knee is maybe what she’s doing now.”

Sophomore Jamie Ruden missed games against Oregon State and Oregon as a result of a concussion, but she played in last weekend’s games against Utah and Colorado. Despite Ruden only scoring 13 combined points in last weekend’s two games, Turner Thorne said she hopes this is a good week for her.

“I think she’s had a good week this week,” Turner Thorne said. “Hopefully this week we’ll get her back to where she was before she got injured. Jamie’s offensive instincts are real good, so it does help us a ton when she’s on the court.”

Next: ASU Basketball: Ibis, Ekmark lead Sun Devils to win over Colorado

ASU will look to get its 15th win on the season Friday against the Cardinal, as the team currently sits with an overall record of 14-6. Friday’s game will begin at 8 p.m. MT and the game can be seen on Pac-12 Arizona.

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.