Charli Turner Thorne never uttered the word rebuild. The Sun Devils women's basketball program is far too established to dip to those depths.
ASU's coach knew, however, that this would be a season of transition after the graduation of key seniors Kelsey Moos, Sophie Brunner and Quinn Dornstauder. The task grew taller when junior guard Sabrina Haines was lost for the season with an ACL tear on Dec. 3 in a win against UC Riverside.
Somehow, ASU emerged with one more win than last season, and a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament when the brackets were announced on Monday.
The No. 7 seed Sun Devils (21-12) will face No. 11 seed Nebraska (21-10) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Arizona time in Austin, Texas, in the Kansas City Regional. If the Devils win, they will face the winner of the No. 2 Texas-No. 15 Maine game in the second round, with No. 1 seed Mississippi State looming on the other side of the bracket.
"I know I have said this but I am going to reiterate it. I'm so proud of what this team has accomplished this year; a team with no seniors," Turner Thorne said. "We lose our most experienced player, Sabrina Haines, the first week of December. If Sabrina didn't get hurt, who knows, we might be hosting right now."
This is the Sun Devils' 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 13th under Turner Thorne. It is also their fifth straight bid, matching the program record previously set from 2005-09 under Turner Thorne.
"We feel really good about the state of the program right now," Turner Thorne said.
ASU was one of six Pac-12 teams to earn bids, along with Oregon, UCLA, Oregon State, Stanford and California.
"The Pac-12 is a really great conference," junior forward Kianna Ibis said. "It's very deserving."
It was in the Pac-12 Tournament that Turner Thorne felt the Sun Devils finally earned the signature win they needed for a confidence boost. ASU beat then-No. 10 Oregon State 57-51 in the tournament quarterfinals in Seattle on March 2.
"That was a huge getting-over-the hump game," she said. "Last year, we beat the people that we were supposed to beat. We played with these teams but we didn't get them. This is what we expect."
Sophomore guard Robbi Ryan admitted that it took time to adjust to the loss of the three heralded seniors.
"We miss them greatly, but we practiced all summer without them," she said. "When they left, we realized it was time to step up. We don't have those senior leaders and it's been a growing and learning process for sure. We're still not quite there yet, but we're getting better every day."
The Sun Devils haven't played since March 3. Turner Thorne was initially concerned by the long layoff, but she has flipped 180 degrees on that opinion.
"I don't know what we would do without it now. It's such a long season and you're so beat up," she said. "We've gotten some well-deserved rest. We also just got some good practice time. With our thin roster, we haven't really had an opportunity to practice at the back end of the season so this has been a great week for us just to address some things."
ASU will depart for Austin on Thursday. Turner Thorne said her team is brimming with confidence.
"This team is capable of great things and they showed that in the Pac-12 Tournament," she said. "It's the right time, the right time for this team to playing its best basketball. You really can't ever count this team out."
ASU's coach knew, however, that this would be a season of transition after the graduation of key seniors Kelsey Moos, Sophie Brunner and Quinn Dornstauder. The task grew taller when junior guard Sabrina Haines was lost for the season with an ACL tear on Dec. 3 in a win against UC Riverside.
Somehow, ASU emerged with one more win than last season, and a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament when the brackets were announced on Monday.
The No. 7 seed Sun Devils (21-12) will face No. 11 seed Nebraska (21-10) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Arizona time in Austin, Texas, in the Kansas City Regional. If the Devils win, they will face the winner of the No. 2 Texas-No. 15 Maine game in the second round, with No. 1 seed Mississippi State looming on the other side of the bracket.
"I know I have said this but I am going to reiterate it. I'm so proud of what this team has accomplished this year; a team with no seniors," Turner Thorne said. "We lose our most experienced player, Sabrina Haines, the first week of December. If Sabrina didn't get hurt, who knows, we might be hosting right now."
This is the Sun Devils' 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 13th under Turner Thorne. It is also their fifth straight bid, matching the program record previously set from 2005-09 under Turner Thorne.
"We feel really good about the state of the program right now," Turner Thorne said.
ASU was one of six Pac-12 teams to earn bids, along with Oregon, UCLA, Oregon State, Stanford and California.
"The Pac-12 is a really great conference," junior forward Kianna Ibis said. "It's very deserving."
It was in the Pac-12 Tournament that Turner Thorne felt the Sun Devils finally earned the signature win they needed for a confidence boost. ASU beat then-No. 10 Oregon State 57-51 in the tournament quarterfinals in Seattle on March 2.
"That was a huge getting-over-the hump game," she said. "Last year, we beat the people that we were supposed to beat. We played with these teams but we didn't get them. This is what we expect."
Sophomore guard Robbi Ryan admitted that it took time to adjust to the loss of the three heralded seniors.
"We miss them greatly, but we practiced all summer without them," she said. "When they left, we realized it was time to step up. We don't have those senior leaders and it's been a growing and learning process for sure. We're still not quite there yet, but we're getting better every day."
The Sun Devils haven't played since March 3. Turner Thorne was initially concerned by the long layoff, but she has flipped 180 degrees on that opinion.
"I don't know what we would do without it now. It's such a long season and you're so beat up," she said. "We've gotten some well-deserved rest. We also just got some good practice time. With our thin roster, we haven't really had an opportunity to practice at the back end of the season so this has been a great week for us just to address some things."
ASU will depart for Austin on Thursday. Turner Thorne said her team is brimming with confidence.
"This team is capable of great things and they showed that in the Pac-12 Tournament," she said. "It's the right time, the right time for this team to playing its best basketball. You really can't ever count this team out."