Arizona State will face Texas Tech outdoors

It’s been six years since Arizona State played in the first outdoor women’s college basketball game.

The 10th-ranked Sun Devils will do it again Monday when they face Texas Tech at Chase Field, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ retractable-dome stadium in downtown Phoenix. A basketball court will be installed on the infield.

“We had a great turnout the first time, so we figured why not do it again,” Sun Devils coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “It’s a great way to promote the sport.”

The Sun Devils did learn a few things from their first outdoor experience.

“We’re going to shoot on the court the night before,” Turner Thorne said. “We’re also going to have more space heaters this time around as it’s going to be chilly.”

Game-time temperatures are expected to be in the upper 40s or low 50s.

In the first outdoor women’s game on Dec. 27, 2000, Tennessee defeated Arizona State 67-63. That contest drew 16,282, with proceeds benefiting breast cancer research.

Good sport

When Alexis Gray-Lawson found out this week she would not play again this season, she asked her California teammates not to feel sorry for her.

The Golden Bear point guard, last season’s Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, tore the anterior cruciate ligament and the meniscus in her right knee Dec. 10 in a win at Kansas. She will have surgery next month.

Now, 15th-ranked Cal will depend even more on freshman guards Natasha Vital and Lauren Greif.

“We become a little bit of a new team,” coach Joanne Boyle said. “Every single person has to take some responsibility. It can’t fall on one person’s shoulders. It is what it is.”

Gray-Lawson had helped Cal to the team’s best start in 14 years and the program’s highest national ranking ever.

Showdown

The two winningest coaches in women’s basketball history will share the sidelines today when No. 5 Tennessee visits Texas.

The Lady Vols’ Pat Summitt has won 921 games – the most by any men’s or women’s coach in NCAA history. She will face Texas coach Jody Condradt, who has 889 victories.

“I’m looking forward to playing Texas at their place,” said Summitt, who has won 16 of 27 meetings against the Longhorns. “It’s always a challenge for us and a difficult environment. That’s why we schedule the way we schedule; to put our players in what could be a postseason-like atmosphere.”

Opportunity knocks

Candace White became one of the youngest Division I head coaches this week when she was chosen as University of Missouri-Kansas City’s interim head coach. The 26-year-old took over after Bo Overton accepted the general manager and head coach position for the WNBA’s Chicago Sky.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for me in my career,” White said. “It was somewhat unexpected. I’ve been with these girls the last few years, and they’ve been a huge help.”

Her first game as coach of the Kangaroos (2-9) is Monday at Chicago State.