The Arizona women's basketball team is entering the final turn of the season, and if it is ever planning to get back into the Pacific 10 Conference race, it is going to have to start by passing an old acquaintance.

The Wildcats are hoping to enter the homestretch with a win over Arizona State (5-12 overall, 1-8 in the Pac-10) at 7 p.m. in the Wildcats' annual "Break the Record" night at McKale Center.

The Wildcats' all-time attendance record was set in 1993 when 4,111 people showed up to watch the state battle.

Arizona (13-5, 4-5) has begun to slip recently, losing three straight conference games. The Wildcats began the season winning their first 11 games.

Last week the Wildcats fell to both Washington schools - 77-67 to Washington and 71-65 to Washington State. Arizona is currently mired in a four-way tie for fifth place in the conference and are below .500 in the Pac-10 for the first time this season. The Sun Devils are tied for ninth in the conference with California.

The game against ASU marks the beginning of the second half of the conference season. A strong finish could give the Wildcats their first-ever NCAA tournament birth. If Arizona sputters down the stretch, it will end a season that began with such promise.

"We feel we can do a lot better as a team in the second half of the season," Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "We control our destiny at this point and it's important that we come to play for every single game."