Arizona State women's hoops head coach Charli Turner-Thorne says there's only one thing her team needs to improve on in its rematch with Arizona on Saturday.
"Everything," she said. "I'm not exaggerating. We truly did not do anything consistently well the entire game."
Though Arizona routed ASU 81-60 on Jan. 2 in McKale Center, the game was tied at the half ÷ the first time the Wildcats went into halftime at home this season without a lead.
But Turner-Thorne was unimpressed.
"We really didn't play well either half," she said. "Mentally, we were just very inconsistent, and you can credit the U of A for that, but we just didn't do anything well."
The Sun Devils (12-6, 6-3 Pacific 10 Conference) have done plenty of things right lately. They've won four of their last five games and, like Arizona, are coming off a road sweep of Oregon and Oregon State.
"Both teams are going to be fired up, ready to go. There won't be any lack of motivation for either team," Turner-Thorne said. "I don't think any team has necessarily more momentum, but I think we're both going to be ready for a great game.
"It's a rivalry game. Both of us are fairly confident right now."
ASU is in fourth place in the conference, just two games behind the leaders, Arizona and Stanford. A win against the UA would be more than just a feather in the cap of an NCAA Tournament-hungry team that lost one of its stars, sophomore guard Jill Noe, to an ACL tear before the season.
"I'm pleased with our progress so far," Turner-Thorne said. "I think all things considered, we really have shown some good maturity for a team with no seniors and (we've shown) some good toughness on the road at times, and I'm really hoping we can keep improving and have a better second round (in the Pac-10)."
With the women's rout of ASU four weeks ago and the men's embarrassment of the Sun Devils the next day in Tempe, UA hoops has had its way with ASU so far in 2003-04. But the ASU women are nearly as dominating at home as the lady Wildcats, boasting an 8-1 record in Wells Fargo Arena.
Saturday night's showdown in Tempe will likely see the Devils enjoy a larger home court advantage than usual.
"(The Arizona game is) always our biggest crowd of the year," Turner-Thorne said. "U of A will always bring their people, and I'm sure we'll have a good crowd. (It) should be really fun, should be a great atmosphere."
The eighth-year ASU head coach said there's always a little extra motivation involved in taking on the state rival.
"It's fun. There's extra excitement to it," she said. "You get your bigger crowds and get the alumni people all excited about it. I think it's a little more special than all the other games."
The home team has won the last five UA-ASU meetings. The Wildcats last won in Tempe on Feb. 26, 2000.
"It's always been two different games the two times (per season) we play," Turner-Thorne said.