Arizona State women's basketball already has traveled a bunch this season — from Fort Defiance to Arkansas to Las Vegas to Colorado and Wisconsin.
All that is just a warm-up for Iris Mbulito and Sophia Elenga.
After a Thursday matinee against Fresno State, they'll be on a plane to London, hoping to make their connections to Paris and Barcelona. Then for Mbulito, there will be a third flight from Barcelona to Gran Canaria, part of the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago located 60 miles west of Morocco.
That's one long trip home for Christmas, especially since Mbulito has to retrace her steps five days later to be back in time to prepare for No. 17 ASU's Pac-12 opener at Arizona on Dec. 30.
"Just spending time with my family," is her holiday wish, said Mbulito, who began her ASU career after earning most valuable player in July at the U20 European Championships while leading Spain to a gold medal. "We are really close and we do many things together so I just want to do that and rest and eat Spanish food. Everything my mom cooks I like. It's just healthy food."
Following after mom
Mbulito'sfamily includes a 25-year-old brother and 18-year-old sister, both studying engineering.Her father is a policeman and her mother works in business. It was her mom, Puri, a former pro basketball player, who inspired Iris to take up the game at age 5.
By 14, Mbulito became the youngest (male or female) to playin the Spanish league's first division and in 2014 she was on Spain's national team that lost by two points to the U.S. in the U17 World Championship gold medal game.
Now 19, she is just beginning to tap into her potential at the U.S. major college level.
Improving defense
Mbulito is averaging 12 minutes (3.5 points, 1.8 rebounds) on ASU's deep roster. She is among the team leaders in assists (21) and steals (12) and starting to play the kind of defense that will earn her more playing time.
Against Kansas State on Sunday, the 6-1 Mbulito made a difference in the second half guarding 6-1 Kayla Goth. She, 5-10 freshman Taya Hanson and 5-11 Reili Richardson give ASU size at guard that has been missing in the past.
"She came up to me (after Kansas State) and said, I've never done that (defensively) before," ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "A lot of this is new. She's played for the same coach in the same town in the same system her whole life. She's learning new ways to do stuff and higher level, and she's handling it really well.
"She's an amazing shot blocker. This is what I was kind of hoping for, by (conference season) she would be a little more fundamentally sound, and she's getting there. Because of her size and athleticism, she's going to make some plays."
Flashy passer
Some eye-popping plays including no-look and behind-the-back passes have her teammates learning to anticipate.
"I'm always trying to do different things and new things," Mbulito said. "I prefer to run the floor with the ball and create for my teammates." Like against Arkansas when she completed a transition break with a behind-the-back assist. "I thought about that pass one second before I did it. I was sure my teammate (Jayde Van Hyfte) was running, that the defense was safe, that nobody was coming behind."
Mbulito originally was going to start at ASU in the second semester last season after not passing the English proficiency test in time to enroll in fall 2017. Instead, she waited until this school year, giving her four full college seasons.
Despite two major knee injuries in 2015, Mbulito still runs well. She is strong enough to be a match-up issue for opponents. If ASU didn't have such a veteran perimeter (Richardson, Robbi Ryan, Courtney Ekmark), Mbulito would be playing more now, but she welcomes the transition time.
"I have a tough moment when I came here," she said. "I was homesick then the food then the language then basketball and studies. It was a big change for me so I was overwhelmed. Now I'm doing better. I have more friendships so I can disconnect from basketball. Right now I'm very happy and I really like being here."
Thursday's game
Fresno State at Arizona State
When: 2 p.m.
Where: Wells Fargo Arena.
Streaming: thesundevils.com.
Outlook:No. 17 ASU (8-2) is seeking its seventh consecutive win in its final non-conference game. The Sun Devils crushed Fresno State 81-49 on the road last season but expect a tougher game in the rematch. ... Fresno State (6-3) dropped its season opener 86-73 at Northern Arizona but played better since including in competitive road losses to USC (62-61) and UCLA (89-80). G Candice White averages 17.7 points and F Maddi Utti 11.7 points/6.4 rebounds.
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