Progress report
Women’s basketball sets sights on next season

When the fourth-seeded women’s basketball team lost to Utah in the second round of the NCAA tournament, many felt that the Sun Devil team had not lived up to its potential. But Coach Charli Turner-Thorne dismisses any idea of dashed expectations. With a host of new players, a freshman and sophomore backcourt, and a team of only average overall experience, she knows that they performed exceptionally well.

“I really felt that this team came about as close to doing what they could do,” she said. “Even though our post-season was less than we [hoped], I felt that we took a step forward in our program in terms of how consistently we performed and our mentality.”

That consistency was manifested in some amazing stats last season, including winning 14 games in the Pac-10 — the best in the program’s history — a 10-game winning streak, and most impressively, going undefeated at home.

For the 2006-07 team, the Sun Devils have what Turner-Thorne calls “very exciting additions.” The team has recruited four new players, including two 6-foot-1 post players and Gabby Fage, a 5-foot-11 guard from Australia. The team also returns four starters from last season: guards Jill Noe and Reagan Pariseau and forwards Emily Westerberg and Aubree Johnson.

The team has some exciting events lined up for the season, including a game with Texas Tech at home and an away game with powerhouse Tennessee that has been on the docket for two years. Turner-Thorne looks to the fans and the alumni to continue to help grow the program.

“The fans make a huge difference to us,” she says. “The thing that I noticed [last year] was a larger crowd, consistently, game in and game out. You really have some atmosphere when you can get 2,000 or more (at games) and we are definitely looking for our fan base to grow.”

–By Michael Green