With all the places No. 8 ASU women's basketball has traveled this season, there has been no more important or challenging road trip than the one it's about to take.
The Sun Devils (17-3, 8-0 Pac-12) are headed to Oregon this weekend for duels with the Oregon Ducks (14-5, 3-5 Pac-12) and the No. 9 Oregon State Beavers (16-3, 7-1 Pac-12).
ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne and her players say both games are of equal importance, but the second game of the trip stands out as a battle between the top two teams in the Pac-12. If both teams take care of business in the Friday games, the winner of Monday's matchup will take hold of first place in the conference.
Turner Thorne emphasized that Oregon is one of the toughest places to travel within the conference — her team doesn't even have a nonstop flight.
She isn't allowing that to be an excuse.
"We're pretty travel savvy," Turner Thorne said. "We've been to the East Coast and Hawaii, and had long trips."
ASU is playing its best basketball of the season. It has 14 consecutive victories, winning the last five by double-digits. Oregon State comes into the game on a hot streak as well, winners of six consecutive conference games after a 20-point road loss on Jan. 4 to No. 15 UCLA.
The Sun Devils have seen balanced contributions from their starters and a real boost from their bench so far in the 2015-16 season. Junior forward Sophie Brunner still leads the team in scoring at 11 points per game, and senior guard Arnecia Hawkins has emerged as a major scoring threat whether she appears in the starting lineup or second unit. Hawkins is now third on the team in scoring at 9.6 ppg.
One ASU player who has struggled by her own standards this season is senior forward Katie Hempen. Hempen's three-point shot will go down as the greatest in school history — she's three away from the school record for career three-pointers made. However, she's only shooting .379 this season.
Hempen said that despite her lower scoring clip, she never really lost her shot and that her teammates have been a major factor in breaking out of a shooting slump. She even threw in a "Finding Nemo" reference.
"My teammates were joking with me this past week about 'just keep shooting, just keep shooting' to make it a little more fun and help me relax more," Hempen said.
Consistent shooting and scoring will be important for the Sun Devils to beat the likes of Oregon and Oregon State, but rebounding will be even more imperative — especially against 6-foot-6 Ruth Hamblin and the Beavers.
Senior guard Elisha Davis used the word rebound six times in a row when discussing the keys to ASU's upcoming games. Davis also said her team needs to not settle for outside shots, and continue to focus as it has throughout this winning streak.
"I think sometimes we want it too easy, and if something's not there we pass it away," Davis said.
There will be no room to be tentative in Eugene or Corvallis this weekend as the Sun Devils make the trip up to the great northwest. Tip for ASU vs. Oregon is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 29 at 9 p.m. mountain time, while the Sun Devils will face the Beavers at the same time on Monday, Feb. 1.
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
