While the majority of the ASU student body spent its month-long winter break at home relaxing, spending time with family and opening a few holiday gifts, the ASU women's basketball team was busy winning basketball games, for the most part.
The Sun Devils, who entered the winter break with a comeback win over then-No. 19 Florida — their first top-25 win of the season — went on a 9-1 tear between the start of December and the beginning of the spring semester to enter Pac-12 play riding a wealth of momentum.
With that, here's a look at what you missed from one of ASU's best athletic programs over the break:
Brunner buzzer-beats Big Blue Nation, Devils roll Middle Tennessee
It became clear that the Sun Devils were ready to start fully living up to their preseason aspirations in their first game that followed finals week.
On national television on Dec. 11, senior forward Sophie Brunner led ASU to what is still their biggest win yet, taking down then-No. 15 Kentucky with 18 points — 16 of which came in the second half — six rebounds and six assists, as well as the following game-winner just five seconds before the buzzer.
This was the shot by senior Sophie Brunner with :5.5 seconds remaining, which sealed the win over No. 15 Kentucky! #OneBeat #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/e6vk0lx4lw
— Sun Devil WBB (@SunDevilWBB) December 11, 2016
Following the game, Brunner was able to sit down with ESPN broadcasters Melissa Lee and Debbie Antonelli and discussed how her team's overall effort and will to go the extra mile was key for the Sun Devils in pulling the upset at Rupp Arena.
The road trip, however — one that head coach Charli Turner Thorne had said could possibly be the season's most difficult — didn't end there, as ASU traveled a bit further south to play at Middle Tennessee's Murphy Center: one of college women's basketball's toughest places to play.
Safe to say, the momentum carried over.
The Sun Devils exploded out of the gates in that contest, opening up a 14-2 lead which eventually ballooned to 43-20 at halftime. ASU never looked back, rolling to a convincing 63-42 win.
Two equally dominant home victories over Oral Roberts (79-52) and Holy Cross (63-33) had the Sun Devils entering conference play ranked 18th in the country with a record of 9-2.
ASU's frenetic defense continues to be key
It's no secret that the Sun Devils like to speed up the pace on defense and use their depth to tire out opponents. This season, it's been the key to their success.
Over break, just one team, Kentucky, broke 70 points against ASU. As a whole, the Sun Devils allowed an average of 53.2 points per game in the month of December, and recently held a Washington team that ranks fourth in the country at 87.4 points per game to just 65.
This follows a season-long trend for one of the best defensive teams in the country, which ranks in the top 15 in the country and best in the Pac-12 in scoring defense, while also being the nation's top three-point defense.
Kelsey Moos out for one month after 2OT win over Cal
ASU may have earned its first Pac-12 victory when they defeated the Golden Bears, 72-62, in double overtime on Jan. 1, but they lost a very important piece to a plantar fascia injury as Kelsey Moos went out late in the game.
Moos is expected to be out for the remainder of January, but should be around for the home stretch and any potential postseason run.
That said, she's severely missed by her teammates, both as a leader and an x-factor on the court.
"She's one of if not our best leader," Brunner said of her fellow senior following ASU's loss to Washington. "She's a very vocal leader, she's like the heart inside of our team. We've obviously been missing that."
According to Turner Thorne, it's the type of mentality Moos brings to the court that could have been exactly what her team needed down the stretch in a game like the one they played Sunday night.
"That one moment when we needed someone out there to say, 'let's go, let's step up and take this game,' nobody did it," Turner Thorne said. "And that's what Kelsey does for us. So, we missed it. Regardless of how many points she scores or how many rebounds she gets, she's our emotional leader."
Richardson playing with poise, becoming one of nation's top freshmen
Since the start of the season, freshman Reili Richardson has been the Sun Devils' top performer at the point guard position, even though she didn't open the year as the starter. Richardson broke out for a game-high 15 points in ASU's recent defeat of Washington State, but has been overachieving all season thanks to a level of poise beyond her years and an innate ability to score and distribute the basketball.
Richardson is the team's second-leading scorer, averaging 9.7 points, while also averaging 4.2 assists to just 1.8 turnovers, and reached her season-high in minutes in the double-overtime win over Cal, tallying an unprecedented 41.
Turner Thorne has had high praise of her standout freshman all season, with a few memorable quotables from recent games:
"Reili Richardson just had probably her coming out game," she said following the win over Florida. "In terms of just defensive plays, offensive plays, pushing the ball, did it all."
"I feel like sometimes we are asking her to do too much, but she just keeps continuing to be able to do it," shed said after the Washington State victory. "She's just as poised as any player I've ever coached and she's in her first season."
"The thing that Reili does, she just really makes our offense go," she said following her team's loss to Washington. "She's just so poised and savvy out there, so amazing in transition.
Now, as the academic calendar turns to a new semester and the women's basketball schedule turns to the heart of conference play, ASU will look to continue its high level of performance going into the toughest part of its schedule.
"We've been getting a lot better," Turner Thorne said. "I think it showed through December, through January so far."
And if they play anywhere near as a hot as they did during the winter break, the Sun Devils should be in for quite the final two months of their season.
Reach the reporter at jeff.griffith21@asu.edu or follow @Jeff_Griffith21 on Twitter.
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