The words “paradise” and “business trip” don’t exactly go together.

But that’s exactly what the ASU women’s basketball team will be combining over Thanksgiving break, as the No. 17 Sun Devils (2-1) will travel to Honolulu to take on Hawaii on Friday and East Tennessee State on Saturday in the Jack in the Box Rainbow Wahine Classic.

“We do have seven new players, so we have a lot of talking to do [about the trip],” ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “We do have a fun day scheduled on the back end, and it’s not going to be fun for any of us if we don’t win. That’s kind of my spiel, and it usually works.”

ASU will be trying to rebound from its first loss of the early season at No. 9 Xavier last weekend, and the Sun Devils’ second extended road trip in as many weeks should provide another challenge for a young team.

“All you can really do is just keep talking and just keep working hard and you kind of try to lead by example,” senior forward Kayli Murphy said. “You just try to coach as much as possible without really saying a lot, because the players already hear a lot from the coaches. They just need some guidance and some positive feedback, and that’s what you really try to do as a senior.”

The Sun Devils are still looking for consistency on both ends of the floor as the new players continue to mesh with the returners, which was evidenced by ASU’s 21 turnovers and 1-of-15 shooting slump during a 19-3 Xavier run in the middle of the second half.

“I hope that this team really takes some things to heart in terms of valuing the basketball,” Turner Thorne said. “We certainly are not where we want to be offensively, and I think we’re still even learning how hard we need to play every possession to play at the highest level.”

Tuner Thorne said the magic word she has been preaching to her team as the key to improvement is awareness.

“That’s the thing we’re going to focus on the most and [that] we’re going to try to grow the most both offensively and defensively,” Turner Thorne said. “Being aware of what the other team’s doing [and] being aware of what we’re doing. We’ve shown it at times, and then I think fatigue hits.”

UH will play its first home contest of the season when it squares off with the Sun Devils after a 1-2 road trip in California to start the year. The Warriors beat UC Riverside 63-58 in their season opener, but were then blown out in back-to-back games against UCLA (98-52) and Cal State Bakersfield (105-75).

Freshman guard/forward Shawna Kuehu leads UH in scoring and rebounding, averaging 13 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Junior guard Keisha Kanekoa averages 11 points per game, and sophomore forward Breanna Arbuckle, who is a product of Chandler High School, is a starter on the inside and averages 6.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

“Their guards are a huge strength,” Turner Thorne said. “We’ve seen more teams [this season] where their posts have been their top scorers. Now, we’re going to see the [guards] do a little more. Our perimeter defense needs to improve, so this is a good opportunity this week to say, ‘Hey you guys, you’ve got to step it up.’ ”

Senior Danielle Orsillo has been the Sun Devils’ leading scorer on the perimeter (9.7 points per game), but she is shooting just 27.3 percent from the floor in the early season.

ETSU is also 1-2 so far this season, with an 85-61 victory over Chattanooga and pair of lopsided losses to Mississippi State by a score of 80-50 and Arkansas by a score of 95-78.

Senior guard/forward TaRonda Wiles is the Lady Buccaneers’ leading scorer (20.3 points per game), while senior guard/forward Siarre Evans averages a double-double with 16 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.

“They sound a little bit like South Dakota State,” Turner Thorne said. “[They play a] different style, but [they’re] kind of in a mid-major conference [and] they’re the top team. They’re very aggressive [and] they’ve got pretty much their whole team back.”

ASU forward Becca Tobin has had a strong start to the season, as she leads the Sun Devils in scoring with 12.3 points per game and also averages 7.3 rebounds per contest. Murphy has also been a force on the inside, averaging 8.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

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