The ASU women’s basketball team isn’t looking for anything spectacular during its opening weekend.
Instead, ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said she is looking for the strong effort she hopes will come to define the team during the season.
“This early in the season we’ve got to come together, bust our butts and find ways to win games,” Turner Thorne said. “We’ve got to continue to gel with our offense and our defense.”
ASU is coming off a successful exhibition game against Division II Fort Lewis, outrebounding the Skyhawks by 15. Senior point guard Dymond Simon said she hopes the team can carry over the success from that game to this weekend and the rest of the season.
“We’re a good rebounding team, we definitely work on that a lot at practice,” Simon said. “Toughness is definitely a key for us, and we work on that every day.”
The versatility the squad has this season will also be a big help, Simon said.
“It makes me feel a lot better not having to dribble through a whole press by myself, and I’m able to get on the break because I know and I trust one of my teammates to bring the ball up,” Simon said.
The Sun Devils open on Friday at home against NAU, and then travel to play UC Riverside on Sunday.
“Traveling in between definitely adds a new challenge,” Turner Thorne said. “It’s hard to have to play two games Friday-Sunday.”
However, the entire non-conference schedule for the ASU looks to be difficult, Turner Thorne said.
“If you look at our schedule in November, it’s pretty challenging. It’s really going to get our team tough and focused and ready for Pac-10 play.”
The NAU squad the Sun Devils face on Friday is looking to bounce back after a rough season last year. The Lumberjacks finished 5-24, and lost their last nine games, all in-conference.
NAU does return its leading scorer from last year in sophomore guard Amy Patton. Last season, Patton averaged 20.3 and 9.9 rebounds per game, good enough to earn her the honor of Big Sky Freshman of the Year.
The Lumberjacks will look to Patton to spark the offense, along with redshirt senior guard Vickie Toney, who was named Big Sky Newcomer of the Year last season.
The Lumberjacks also welcome a strong recruiting class, ranked No. 53 by ESPN HoopGurlz.
The Sun Devils expect a slightly tougher matchup against UC Riverside on Sunday. The Highlanders made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament last year after winning the Big West Conference and earning an automatic berth. Riverside finished the season 17-16 and eventually lost to Stanford in the first round of the tournament.
The Highlanders return three of their top five scorers from last season, including sophomore guard Alyssa Morris, who averaged 13.2 points per game.
The team will be looking to make a repeat run to the NCAA Tournament, and won’t have to travel between games this weekend, which could be an advantage.
“They’re always just incredibly prepared,” Thorne said. “They’re a veteran team, and what they do, they do very well.”
Reach the reporter at egrasser@asu.edu
