By Craig Morgan, thesundevils.com Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Last season when the Sun Devils women's basketball team suffered its third non-conference loss to fall to 3-3, coach Charli Turner Thorne had what she termed a "come-to-Jesus" moment with her veteran laden team.
When this year's Sun Devils lost back-to-back games to Marquette and No. 4 Maryland in late November, Turner Thorne took a softer approach with a youth-laden team.
"We had so much to teach and coach with this group," she said. "You know as a veteran coach that you can't have it all at the beginning of the season.
"It's a long season and we're really young. Usually, I want my team firing on all cylinders from the start, but I was a little more aware that this was going to be a process and we might not be exactly where we want to be right away."
The No. 18 Sun Devils (9-2) are much closer to where they want to be as they prepare to open Pac-12 play on Friday against Stanford at Wells Fargo Arena. ASU is riding a seven-game winning streak, it has a marquee win over No. 17 Kentucky and a disparate set of pieces is starting to gel.
"I think we have just really learned that we have to play good team basketball to win and that requires a high level of focus, intensity and an overall commitment level," senior forward Sophie Brunner said. "Some teams might break apart after a loss like we had to Maryland, but we got closer, we got back in the gym and we focused on the things we need to work on."
There are numerous contributions to point to in the Sun Devils' recent run, including better team rebounding and the familiar Turner Thorne brand of in-your-face defense, but the two most noticeable individual contributions have come from Brunner and freshman point guard Reili Richardson.
"It's very different from high school," said Richardson (team-high 47 assists). "When I came here it was a big transition but I've enjoyed it and they've pushed me to be the best I can be and I think I've stepped up with a lot of help from the veterans."
With fellow freshman point guard Kiara Russell out of the lineup the past four games due to injury Russell has stepped up and played heavy minutes, logging an average of 30 minutes a game over that span.
"Reili Richardson might actually sleep for five straight days," Turner Thorne said. "I was very concerned with the minutes when we had to play Reili 30 a game, but I think she absorbed it amazingly well."
The other noticeable jump has come from Brunner, a player Turner Thorne said is so unselfish that it took some extra prodding to convince her to exert her will more on games.
"She's always been one to defer; a very humble, total team player, but after that Maryland game she just kind of turned the page on that and said 'my team needs me to do more,'" Turner Thorne said. "It wasn't in a selfish way. She just recognized the need."
Brunner admitted it was an uncomfortable step.
"Yeah, it's not really my way of going about things," said Brunner, who is averaging team-highs in points (11.6) and rebounds (6.2). "But I do think us seniors, collectively -- Quinn [Dornstauder] and Kelsey [Moos] -- we felt a huge sense of urgency with this being our last year and we brought that sense of urgency to practice. It's on us to bring that leadership."
With that element in place, Turner Thorne is ready to bring on a steady stream of Pac-12 opponents.
"I feel good," she said. "I feel like we're battled tested and we saw a lot of different styles of defenses and offenses so for a young team, that's really good in helping them prepare for what's ahead.
"I think they're in a good place and feel they've figured a lot of this out. It doesn't mean we're going to go out and do it every game but they have a good deal of confidence in who they are and that's the most important thing."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Last season when the Sun Devils women's basketball team suffered its third non-conference loss to fall to 3-3, coach Charli Turner Thorne had what she termed a "come-to-Jesus" moment with her veteran laden team.
When this year's Sun Devils lost back-to-back games to Marquette and No. 4 Maryland in late November, Turner Thorne took a softer approach with a youth-laden team.
"We had so much to teach and coach with this group," she said. "You know as a veteran coach that you can't have it all at the beginning of the season.
"It's a long season and we're really young. Usually, I want my team firing on all cylinders from the start, but I was a little more aware that this was going to be a process and we might not be exactly where we want to be right away."
The No. 18 Sun Devils (9-2) are much closer to where they want to be as they prepare to open Pac-12 play on Friday against Stanford at Wells Fargo Arena. ASU is riding a seven-game winning streak, it has a marquee win over No. 17 Kentucky and a disparate set of pieces is starting to gel.
"I think we have just really learned that we have to play good team basketball to win and that requires a high level of focus, intensity and an overall commitment level," senior forward Sophie Brunner said. "Some teams might break apart after a loss like we had to Maryland, but we got closer, we got back in the gym and we focused on the things we need to work on."
There are numerous contributions to point to in the Sun Devils' recent run, including better team rebounding and the familiar Turner Thorne brand of in-your-face defense, but the two most noticeable individual contributions have come from Brunner and freshman point guard Reili Richardson.
"It's very different from high school," said Richardson (team-high 47 assists). "When I came here it was a big transition but I've enjoyed it and they've pushed me to be the best I can be and I think I've stepped up with a lot of help from the veterans."
With fellow freshman point guard Kiara Russell out of the lineup the past four games due to injury Russell has stepped up and played heavy minutes, logging an average of 30 minutes a game over that span.
"Reili Richardson might actually sleep for five straight days," Turner Thorne said. "I was very concerned with the minutes when we had to play Reili 30 a game, but I think she absorbed it amazingly well."
The other noticeable jump has come from Brunner, a player Turner Thorne said is so unselfish that it took some extra prodding to convince her to exert her will more on games.
"She's always been one to defer; a very humble, total team player, but after that Maryland game she just kind of turned the page on that and said 'my team needs me to do more,'" Turner Thorne said. "It wasn't in a selfish way. She just recognized the need."
Brunner admitted it was an uncomfortable step.
"Yeah, it's not really my way of going about things," said Brunner, who is averaging team-highs in points (11.6) and rebounds (6.2). "But I do think us seniors, collectively -- Quinn [Dornstauder] and Kelsey [Moos] -- we felt a huge sense of urgency with this being our last year and we brought that sense of urgency to practice. It's on us to bring that leadership."
With that element in place, Turner Thorne is ready to bring on a steady stream of Pac-12 opponents.
"I feel good," she said. "I feel like we're battled tested and we saw a lot of different styles of defenses and offenses so for a young team, that's really good in helping them prepare for what's ahead.
"I think they're in a good place and feel they've figured a lot of this out. It doesn't mean we're going to go out and do it every game but they have a good deal of confidence in who they are and that's the most important thing."