Away in the desert

The Cardinal begins the second half of the conference season in the desert with games against the Sun Devils and the Wildcats.

The game against the Sun Devils on Thursday February 2 at 6:00 pm Pacific Time will be televised by FSN/Comcast. You can join fellow Bay Area fans at a viewing party at the Old Pro to watch the game.

The Arizona game on Saturday February 4 at 1:00 pm Pacific Time will be webcast by Arizona All-Access.

Both games will be broadcast by KZSU.

  Arizona State Sun Devils

The Sun Devils are having a very good season under the guidance of Joseph Anders, the interim head coach this season while Charli Turner Thorne is on sabbatical.

The Sun Devils had a fairly hard non-conference schedule, with two games against ranked opponents (Rutgers and DePaul). They lost those two, but won the other nine. They began the conference season with a win over Arizona, then lost the next three to USC, UCLA and Oregon State. They won the next five games and are now second in the Pac-12.

This will be a really important weekend for the Sun Devils. In conference play only, they're tied with Cal for second place so that game will be a "must win" for both of them. In their game against Stanford they can take heart from knowing that Cal came awfully close to an upset.

The Sun Devils are playing their usual lock-down defense, but are lacking in offense. They lost three of their four top scorers (Dymond Simon, Becca Tobin and Tenaya Watson) and are averaging just 60.3 points per game — next-to-last in the conference. They stand last in the conference on three-point shooting, both in the number made (3.6 per game) and in percentage (28.0).

So they rely on their defense, and that's outstanding. They hold their opponents to 33.2% field goal shooting, which leads the conference and ranks seventh nationally. They allow their opponents just 51.9 points per game, which leads the conference and ranks 13th nationally. They also lead the conference in blocks per game (6.05), which ranks eighth nationally. They're second-best in the conference in steals per game (10.5).

Although the Sun Devila are a strong aggressive team, they're only so-so on rebounds. They average 39.9 rebounds per game – 2.9 more than their opponents – which ranks seventh in the conference.

The probable starters for ASU are:

• #25, 6'2" senior guard/forward Kimberly Brandon (Cal's Gennifer Brandon's elder sister) leads ASU in scoring (11.2 ppg), rebounding (7.2 rpg) and steals (1.9 spg).


• #11, 6'5" redshirt senior center Kali Bennett is ASU's star blocker with 2.6 per game, which is second-best in the conference and 21st in the nation. She has stepped up her game this season and is now ASU's second-best scorer (8.1 ppg) and rebounder (6.7 rpg) — that's 4.2 more points and 2.3 more rebounds than last season. But she still gets into foul trouble. She has fouled out of two games this season and committed four fouls in four other games.


• #5, 5'7" junior guard Deja Mann runs the point and takes good care of the ball. She averages 4.0 assists per game with 2.5 turnovers for a good ratio of 1.6 (third-best in the conference). She also averages 6.9 points and. 3.5 rebounds per game.


• #0, 5'7" senior guard Olivia Major is a transfer from Cenrtral Arizona. She is ASU's best three-point shooter. 85% of her attempts are from beyond the arc and she makes almost a third of them. But she plays only about 15 minutes per game and doesn't take many shots. She averages 3.2 points per game.


• #2, 5'8" junior guard Micaela Pickens is a junior college transfer. She averages 6.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. She also tallies almost two steals and almost one block per game.

ASU has only five healthy reserves: Senior guard Alex Earl, junior forward Janae Fulcher, sophomore guard Adrianne Thomas, freshman forward Jada Blackwell and freshman guard Promise Amukamura. Collectively they get 38% of the playing time and account for 40% of the scoring and 30% of the rebounds.

Freshman guard Eliza Normen has redshirted after injuring her quad early in the season. Junior center Joy Burke and junior guard Haley Parsons are sidelined after suffering concussions — they haven't played in any conference games.

Arizona State's win-loss record (15-5 overall, 6-3 conference) places them second in the Pac-12 their RPI (51) places them fourth, and their strength of schedule rank (83) places them eighth.

Here are their 2011-12 statistics and their roster.

  Arizona Wildcats

The Wildcats, led by fourth-year head coach Niya Butts, are having a disappointing season. They began well by winning all but one of their non-conference games (albeit with a very soft schedule) and went into conference play 11-1 — their best start in 12 years. But they haven't been able to keep up that pace in the conference where they've lost seven of nine games (winning only against UCLA and Oregon State). They now stand last in the conference.

The Wildcats have a good frontcourt. They like to run and rely on fast-break offense. But they're short of talent in the paint. Ify Ibekwe and Soana Lucet graduated — with them went 28 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks per game.

The Wildcat offense is most effective beyond the arc. They average almost 6.5 three-pointers per game (second-best in the conference) at a rate of 35% (best in the conference).

The probable starters for Arizona are:

• #0, 5'11" junior guard Davellyn Whyte is Arizona's star player. She was the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and was All-Pac-10 as a freshman and as a sophomore. She leads the team in scoring (18.2), three-pointers (2.38 ) and steals (2.76) per game. She is second-best in the conference in those three categories. She also gets 6.6 rebounds per game and has had four double-doubles this season.


• #1, 5'5" sophomore guard Candice Warthen is Arizona's second best scorer with 12.8 points per game. She takes 30% of her shots from beyond the arc and makes 41% of them. She also averages 3.4 rebounds per game. She was sidelined for eight games with a foot injury, but has been back on the court for the last four.


• #23, 6'2" sophomore forward Erica Barnes is having a breakout season. She averages 12.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and has had seven double-doubles.


• #6, 5'5" senior guard Shanita Arnold runs the point for Arizona and takes very good care of the ball. She averages five assists per game with three turnovers for a ratio of 1.6 (second-best in the conference). She also averages 9.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. She takes 43% of her shots from beyond the arc, but makes only 31% of them.


• #44, 6'5" freshman center Aley Rohde is the highest-ranked recruit ever signed by Niya Butts. She has taken Ibekwe's place in the back court — the position, but not yet the production. She averages 7.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game — well done for a freshman.

Arizona's reserves are senior guard Reiko Thomas, junior guard Lindsey Fearing, junior forward Cheylene Harper, junior forward Cheshi Poston, freshman guard Erin Butler and freshman guard Layana White. Between them, they get 28% of the playing time and account for 22% of the points and 20% of the rebounds.

Arizona's win-loss record (13-8 overall, 2-7 conference) places them last in the Pac-12, their RPI (109) places them tenth, and their strength of schedule rank (130) places them eleventh.

Here are their 2011-12 statistics and their roster.