ASU Women’s Basketball: Players to watch this upcoming season
The ASU women’s basketball team has their big impact players returning as they look to make another strong run in the Pac-12 Tournament and go deep into March.
The Sun Devils surprised a lot of people last year when they made it all the way to the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament as a six seed, where they fell to number two ranked Stanford. Stanford would go on to lose in the championship against top-ranked Oregon.
Last season the Sun Devils were ranked sixth in the preseason Pac-12 rankings. This year they are ranked fifth in the Pac-12 and ranked No. 23 in the nation. With their core returning they hope to finish this season at the end of March.
A big key for the Sun Devil’s success this upcoming season is senior Kianna Ibis. She led the team in scoring last season as a junior at a mark of 12.9 points per game. She also put up 5.1 rebounds per game and was named All-Pac-12 honors by the coaches and media.
Ibis is currently the active career leader in points, rebounds and blocks for the Sun Devils. This season the 6’1” stretch four will look to continue her dominance as she heads into her senior season with high expectations.
Another player that is expected to be a big impact on this team is junior Robbi Ryan. The 5’9” point guard finished second on the team in scoring last year with 10.2 points per game.
After earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention and Pac-12 All-Defensive honorable mention as a sophomore, Ryan is in position to succeed even greater this season with what she has around her.
Ryan is a very physical guard for her size and often out is more aggressive than anyone else on the floor.
Her team leading free throws made and attempted will speak for itself. After an offseason of working in the gym and improving her game she will not only be a better basketball player, but also more physically built which will be a nightmare for her opponents.
With Ibis’ deadly three-point accuracy, she will be able to spread the floor, which in turn will give Ryan more room to drive to the rim and eventually end up back at the free throw line.
Also, with the arrival of Canadian national team star Taya Hanson, Ryan will be able to relieve some of the ball handling duties off to Hanson so Robbi won’t tire herself out. The addition of Hanson may also benefit Ryan by taking a good defender off of her if Hanson is able to establish herself as a scoring threat.
Another player that has already established herself as a dominate player is Courtney Ekmark. The 6’0” redshirt senior has played one full year at ASU after transferring from the University of Connecticut, where she was a part of two national championships.
After transferring back to where she grew up, Ekmark instantly left her mark on the ASU program by leading the team in three-point field goals made and free-throw percentage. She also earned All-Pac-12 honorable mentions.
Ekmark hopes to use her time at UCONN as experience and help lead this team to a National Championship. She will need the leadership help from Kianna Ibis and Robbi Ryan if they wish to pull it off.
This team of sharp shooters and physical defense lead by Charli Turner Thorne, are looking to make the NCAA women’s tournament for a sixth time in a row.
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It will be a difficult road ahead as they play in arguably the toughest conference, the Pac-12, but with their main core returning and a couple freshman that are expected to make and instant impact, this team is built to make a deep run.