TEMPE, Ariz. -- Charli Turner Thorne said three weeks ago that the non-conference schedule would test her team "like never before." Add clairvoyance to the Sun Devil women's basketball coach's long list of skills.

In ASU's 60-58 loss to No. 2 South Carolina in the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown last weekend -- a game decided by two free throws with six tenths of a second left -- the Sun Devils lost junior power forward Sophie Brunner to an ankle sprain in the fourth quarter.

They also lost starting small forward Kelsey Moos late in the third quarter, and center Quinn Dornstauder missed a good chunk of the first half to get four stitches in her chin after a blow to the head from a South Carolina player.

"Sometimes you have a good team returning and you haven't really had any adversity," Turner Thorne said. "I think some of this has actually been really good for us. We are going to be so much better and stronger for having gone through what we're going through right now."

With most of last season's Sweet 16 roster in place, it was tempting to expect the Sun Devils to roll effortlessly out of the gate this season, but the loss of shutdown defender Promise Amukamara and the shift of three starters to new positions has presented some early-season challenges that Turner Thorne expected.

In spite of that, Turner Thorne's club will face four top-20 teams before it opens the Pac-12 schedule on Jan. 2 against No. 18 Cal and Jan. 4 against No. 16 Stanford.

The No. 17 Sun Devils have already faced No. 11 Kentucky and the No. 2 Gamecocks. They will host the No. 13 Seminoles nine days after travelling to face No. 20 Syracuse on Dec. 12. Florida State beat ASU 66-65 in the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen in March.

"It makes you realize why we play Division I basketball," senior guard Elisha Davis said. "It's not to blow people out. It's not to have those fruity games. It's to have great competition; both teams making each other better."

That is always the intent when Turner Thorne helps puts together the team's perennially tough non-conference slate.

"It's a really good evaluation to see where we're at," Moos said. " It just prepares us that much more when we play these tough games right away. It exposes some of our weaknesses that we're able to work on."

Moos rattled off a litany of areas the Sun Devils must improve.

"Defensively, we need to work on not fouling by playing our great position defense without bailing the other team out at the end of the shot clock and really getting our help side going," she said. "Offensively, we need to take care of the ball, work on our spacing, our ball movement and rebounding is always one of our main focuses."

Turner Thorne added end-of-game situations to the list, given the team's tight losses to Kentucky and South Carolina.

"We take advantage of every teachable moment," she said. "Obviously we've had some incredibly tough calls but we always look at, 'OK, what could we have done differently? This group always learn things and takes thing to heart so I really believe this is going to serve us well come conference season."

There could be one additional benefit from the Sun Devils' early adversity. Turner Thorne's talented and athletic freshman class is getting valuable experience in the wake of the team's injuries. The Sun Devils' coach loves to go deep into her bench to maintain pace and pressure.

Once the Sun Devils get healthy, they could come at opponents in waves in January, February and March.

"It's not always how you start," Davis said. "It's how you finish."