Let the madness begin.
The second part of the season for the ASU women's basketball team officially starts Saturday afternoon when the Sun Devils (20-9, 14-4 Pac-10) take on Washington in the quarterfinals of the Pac-10 Tournament in San Jose, Calif.
The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and the Sun Devils are viewing this weekend as their one last chance to impress the NCAA Selection Committee before the brackets are revealed on March 17.
"We all understand that the better we do in this [Pac-10] tournament, the better seed we get in the NCAA Tournament," ASU junior guard Briann January said. "It's exciting to kind of have another shot to prove ourselves."
But before getting back to the hardwood, multiple Sun Devils were honored by the Pac-10 Thursday, most notably January.
January was named the first-ever recipient of the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year award and also earned Second-Team All-Pac-10 honors.
"[The awards are] just a tribute to my team because I'm out there working every day with them, and they're making me better in turn," January said.
January led the conference in steals this season, averaging 2.38 per game. She had eight games where she recorded four or more steals, often while guarding the opponent's best offensive player.
Joining January on the All-Pac-10 Second Team is junior forward Lauren Lacey, who led the Sun Devils in scoring with 12.9 points per game this season.
Senior guard Jill Noe earned All-Pac-10 Honorable Mention honors, while junior center Sybil Dosty and senior guard Reagan Pariseau earned Pac-10 Defensive Honorable Mention honors.
Husky battle lies ahead
The No. 3-seed Sun Devils head into the conference tournament on a four-game winning streak, with one of those four victories coming against the Huskies (13-17, 8-10 Pac-10) on Feb 24.
"Everybody's stepped up and started playing hard and playing together," January said. "We're having fun again, and I think that's making a big difference."
But No. 6-seed UW is another team with positive momentum on its side, as the Huskies upset No. 10 California Sunday in their regular season finale.
Reach the reporter at: gina.mizell@asu.edu.
