April 7, 2005
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State University women's basketball team is ranked 16th in the final USA Today/ESPN WBCA Coaches' Poll released this week.
The Sun Devils are ranked in the final poll of the year for the first time since 2002, while the No. 16 ranking marks the highest for the team since being tabbed 15th on Nov. 18, 1983. No. 16 ASU was joined by two other Pac-10 teams in the final poll, including No. 5 Stanford and No. 22 USC.
Under the direction of ninth-year head coach Charli Turner Thorne, ASU finished the season with a 24-10 record and advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the first time in 22 years. The Sun Devils ended up just one win shy of the school record for single-season victories, turning in the seventh 20-win campaign in school history, and finished in the top half of the Pac-10 standings for the third time in five seasons (tied for second).
In 2004-05, Turner Thorne became the all-time winningest coach in school history and the first Sun Devil mentor to lead her team to five consecutive winning seasons and three NCAA Tournament appearances.