ASU Women’s Basketball: No. 19 Devils set to host ASU Classic

The No. 19 Devils (3-2) are almost a month into the season but have only been on their home court for one of their five games.

It will be a warm welcoming for ASU as they play host of the annual ASU Classic starting this Saturday. They will host three teams east of Arizona in Louisiana Tech (4-3), Alabama (5-1) and Tulsa (4-3).

The Classic will open with ASU facing Louisiana Tech at 1 p.m. It will be followed 30 minutes after completion with Alabama facing off against Tulsa.

Sunday, the action will continue when Louisiana Tech - whether they win or lose - will face off against either Tulsa or Alabama. It could be a winners matchup or a losers matchup. It will be followed by ASU facing off against the other team from the Alabama/Tulsa game.

All of ASU’s games will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.

Because of the structure of the tournament, ASU has to prepare for all three potential pairings. What are the opposing teams bringing with them to Tempe?

Louisiana Tech

The Lady Techsters have played split on both the road and at home; two wins and one loss each. They have yet to play a top-25 team this season.

Senior guard Kierra Anthony leads the team in points (135) and steals (10) and is tied for second on the team in assists (17).

As a team, Louisiana Tech’s best performance of the season came at home against Houston. It went into overtime but the Lady Techsters pulled away to win 100-88. Their most recent matchup came against Wichita State last Saturday where they lost 70-56.

On average the Lady Techsters allow 69.5 points per game and now face an ASU squad that is averaging 73.2 points per game.

Alabama

The Crimson Tide have put together a strong 5-1 so far in their non-conference schedule. They have not faced a ranked team yet either but the SEC is stacked with talented teams like No. 18 South Carolina, No. 6 Mississippi State and No. 11 Tennessee.

Leading the way is junior forward Jasmine Walker who has the team’s most rebounds with 48 - 34 defensive and 14 offensive - and is averaging 14.7 points per game. Should the Devils meet with Alabama, she would likely match with senior Kianna Ibis in terms of ability to shoot and crash the boards.

Alabama has averaged 70 points per game but have been beaten in the turnover game so far this season; totaling 115 to this point.

Alabama will come into Tempe coming off a home-victory over Stetson on Tuesday 59-47.

Tulsa

Tulsa has had an up and down season but they come to Tempe having won their last game Wednesday against Abilene Christian 75-63. They have yet to win on the road this year.

They are barely being outscored by opponents this year, an average difference of -7.3 points. It’s also the lowest average of all opponents at 61.6 points per game.

The duo of senior forward Crystal Polk and junior guard Alexis Gaulden lead the scoring for the Hurricane. Polk and Gaulden both averaging above 13 points per game. Polk also leads in field goal percentage with 51.4%.

Tulsa will likely be the unlisted underdog of the weekend.