The WSU women’s basketball team will face the Arizona State Sun Devils Thursday at 7 p.m. in Beasley Coliseum.

“Arizona State is notorious for their defense and certainly they’re mixing it up both with their zone and man full court,” Head Coach June Daugherty said.

Arizona State identifies themselves as a tenacious team, she said. They use their tenaciousness to force turnovers.

“They have a very good interior that does like to challenge just about every shot,” Daugherty said. “And they get to quite a few.”

Daugherty said she thinks Arizona State is very quick along the perimeter of the court. The team will attack from both the inside and outside on the court using their speed, athleticism and size, she said.

“We haven’t been turning the ball over much,” Daugherty said. “And we want to continue to take care of the basketball.”

WSU will be tested against Arizona State’s defense, she said. Their opponent is not only physical but they also mix things up frequently, she said.

“So we’ve got to be able to recognize what they’re in,” Daugherty said. “And take advantage of the holes that happen with the pressure defense or the different zone schemes that we’re going to see,” she said.

By recognizing the opponent’s defense more effectively the team can execute at a higher level to prevent easy baskets, she said. WSU will use their speed and ball handling ability to break down Arizona State and make easy baskets, she said.

The focus of the WSU team is remembering first how important execution is offensively and defensively and secondly poise, she said.

“Arizona State’s a very physical team on defense,” senior guard and forward Rosie Tarnowski said. “The play really pressure and man to man.”

The team has been practicing against Arizona State’s defensive style, she said.

“Defensively we’re just kind of working on our zone defense,” Tarnowski said.

During the games on the road WSU learned how physical their opponents could be, she said. It made the team realize that they need to be more physical during games, she said.

The team is excited to get back on the court, she said. Their goal is to win and get out of the slump they have been in for the last few games, she said.

“We’re trying to sure up this weekend because we have a good opportunity to get two teams and get back on track,” Tarnowski said.