On paper, it looks like this could be the defining week of the ASU women's basketball season.
With No. 9 California and No. 6 Stanford both visiting Tempe, the No. 25 Sun Devils (11-5, 5-0 Pac-10) will have a chance to show they should not be a forgotten contender in the Pac-10.
However, both ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne and junior guard Briann January said that while the Sun Devils know they will face tough competition in both games, there should not be more importance put on this weekend than necessary.
"You guys [the media] are the ones talking about how [Thursday's game against California is] the biggest game of the year," Turner Thorne said. "We are not approaching it like this is defining our season. We're just approaching it like, 'OK, we've got some tough games this week, and let's just focus in on what we need to do to win.'"
The Sun Devils took Sunday and Monday off to rest players who were sick or injured before resuming practice on Tuesday.
January, who strained her knee on Jan. 5 at Oregon State, participated in practice on Tuesday and said her knee is continuing to get better.
January sat out of practice all of last week and did not start for the first time this season on Saturday because of her strained knee. Despite the injury, she came off the bench and scored a team-high 19 points on perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the field against the UA.
Junior forward Lauren Lacey, junior center Sybil Dosty and senior guard Reagan Pariseau were among players suffering from cold and flu symptoms during Saturday's game, but Turner Thorne said there was less coughing at practice Tuesday.
Besides the touches of the flu, the injury bug seems to have finally left the Sun Devils, which Turner Thorne said is the biggest reason why her team has started the Pac-10 season undefeated.
"We're the closest thing to full strength that we've been," she said. "Getting healthy is the number one key that we are 5-0 right now. Every time we had a core guard out or we were a guard and a half down, we just couldn't do the things we wanted to do."
Turner Thorne added consistency is one of the biggest focuses this week as the Sun Devils prepare to face two top-10 ranked teams. She said that Saturday's game against Arizona was one of the team's best offensive performances of the season, but considered the defensive effort just "OK."
Turner Thorne also mentioned that all aspects of the game would need to come together for the Sun Devils to pull out two victories this week.
"We've got to defend and knock down shots and control the boards," she said. "Sometimes we can do two of those three things and still win, [but] we're going to have to play a complete game."
Sunday's game against Stanford will be ASU's opportunity in the NCAA/Pac-10 "Pack the House" challenge.
ASU was selected to participate in the national competition where schools will try to set new attendance records and continue to market the sport of women's college basketball in their communities.
Fans can purchase discounted tickets online by Jan. 19 and will be eligible to win prizes at the game.
Reach this reporter at: gina.mizell@asu.edu.
