Last season, the ASU women’s basketball team prepared for the regular season by playing two exhibition games against the U.S. and Chinese national teams.

Those squads were tuning up for the 2008 Olympics at the time.

It’s not quite the same this season, as the No. 17 Sun Devils will host their only exhibition contest Wednesday night against the Houston Jaguars.

The Jaguars are a traveling team that was founded in 1997 and competes against college programs during the preseason. ASU is the sixth school it will play on a November trek that also includes stops at Texas A&M, Texas Tech and LSU.

“It will be a good test for us to kind of see where we’re at,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “[Houston] has some good individual talent, so for us that’s good.”

The Jaguars lost to Baylor 123-70 on Monday.

For Wednesday’s game, Turner Thorne said her team’s main goal is to get back into physical and mental shape.

“We’re ready in the sense that we want to [play],” she said. “[But] from a coaching standpoint, our game readiness is certainly not where it needs to be.”

Turner Thorne also said she will play around with different lineups and give early experience to three freshmen.

“[We’re] definitely looking to get everybody some good minutes,” Turner Thorne said. “I really think you’ve got to do that in a practice game [and] give people opportunities.”

ASU will also welcome back junior guard Danielle Orsillo, who redshirted last season because of a knee injury.

Senior center Kirsten Thompson suffered a concussion in a practice game Saturday but is expected to play against the Jaguars.

However, four Sun Devils will not play against the Jaguars.

Junior forward Kayli Murphy is recovering from a broken hand she suffered on Oct. 23.

Turner Thorne said Murphy will miss a couple more weeks and could be back by the team’s tournament games in late November.

Junior guard Jazlyn Davis, a junior college transfer expected to play, will not suit up because ASU is waiting to hear back from the NCAA about her academic eligibility.
Sophomore center Kali Bennett, a transfer from Washington, and freshman guard Haley Parsons will both redshirt this season.

Wednesday’s contest against the Jaguars will be the culmination of preseason practices that Turner Thorne said have been more intense and demanding than in previous years.

“I’m really pleased with [the players] in terms of the way they’re responding just to the challenges we’re throwing at them every day in practice,” she said. “We’ve definitely gone longer and harder in the recent past.”

Following the game, the Sun Devils will have eight days off to prepare for their regular season opener against Cleveland State on Nov. 14 as part of the preseason WNIT.

Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu.