The ASU women's basketball team begins a crucial two-game road trip Thursday when it faces No. 9 California in Berkeley, Calif.
The Sun Devils (16-7, 10-2 Pac-10) will be going for their sixth win in a row while trying to stay in the hunt for the regular season Pac-10 title.
The Golden Bears (21-3, 12-1 Pac-10) are currently atop the conference, while the Sun Devils and No. 6 Stanford (22-3, 11-2), who play each other Saturday, sit just behind in the loss column.
Cal handed ASU its first conference loss of the season when the Golden Bears went into Wells Fargo Arena and beat the Sun Devils on their home floor, 64-51, on Jan. 17.
Tonight, ASU will try to return the favor, putting its unbeaten conference road record on the line against a Cal team that has not lost at home this season.
"We want to go out there and be road warriors," ASU junior guard Briann January said. "I'm excited to get these two games back because I know last time we got really close, and they were great games, but we didn't finish them out, and this time we want to get that done."
The Sun Devils will have to avoid getting off to a sluggish start if they want to be successful against the Golden Bears. ASU missed its first 11 shots in its last game against Cal, which left the Sun Devils in an early 16-0 hole that they couldn't pull themselves out of.
"We took advantage of what they gave us [in the first meeting]," Cal coach Joanne Boyle said. "The very next game, they made adjustments and didn't play that way. We're going to prepare for both [styles]."
ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said the key for the Sun Devils is to play disciplined on offense — shooting well from the outside while still establishing an inside game.
"[Cal is] just so good at just daring you to shoot it from the perimeter," she said. "We're a team that likes to slice and dice, get to the rim, and feed our post, and [Cal is] just very stingy and [does] an outstanding job of not allowing teams to do that."
The Golden Bears are sixth in the nation in scoring defense, giving up only 52.8 points per game. They also lead the Pac-10 in rebounding margin (plus 8.4).
January said that Turner Thorne told the team at practice Tuesday to make sure to take high percentage shots but not to pass up good looks.
"I wouldn't say everyone has the green light, but everybody is told to take the open shot, not to hesitate," she said.
Controlling the paint on offense and defense will also be important for the Sun Devils against a strong Golden Bear front line. In its last game against ASU, Cal junior forward Devanei Hampton had a career-high 28 points and nine rebounds, while junior center Ashley Walker added 13 points and seven rebounds.
But ASU junior forward Lauren Lacey said the post players are ready to go up against the Cal duo again.
"We're much more prepared, especially Sybil [Dosty] and I, because we had never played against those post players [before]," Lacey said. "We know how strong they are, and what they're going to do, and what we can do."
Limiting turnovers is also a must for the Sun Devils if they want to upset the Golden Bears.
"[Cal's not a team] that usually [forces] a lot of turnovers, but at the same time we've been a little careless with the basketball," Turner Thorne said. "We just need to be working well together offensively."
The Sun Devils committed 23 turnovers in their last game against Arizona.
Turner Thorne also said the Sun Devils cannot be caught looking forward to Stanford on Saturday. Cal is a top-10 team nationally and the Pac-10's leader in the standings.
"They're equally as tough," she said. "We never looked past Cal if they were the ninth place team because they've always had talent, [were] hard nosed [and] well coached."
Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu.
