Arizona State faces Stephen F. Austin in second straight tourney appearance

3/16/2006 3:22 AM

Coach Charli Turner Thorne's lengthy resume includes many firsts at Arizona State, from Pac-10 titles and conference championships to back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament.

She would like her next first to be a national championship.

The fourth-seeded Sun Devils (24-6) make their fourth tournament appearance in six years Saturday when they face 13th-seeded Stephen F. Austin in the first round of the Albuquerque Regional at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz.

Arizona State won the only meeting between the teams, 67-45, in 2000-01.

Turner Thorne, whose 171 wins are the most in school history, led the Sun Devils to the regional semifinals for the first time in 22 years last season, where they lost 79-72 to fourth-ranked North Carolina.

A year later, backed by senior Kristen Kovesdy and junior Emily Westerberg, the 15th-ranked Sun Devils finished second in the Pac-10 with a 14-4 mark, compiling both a nine and a school-record 10-game winning streak along the way to tie the 2004-05 team for the third-most wins in school history.

Both the 1981-82 and 2001-02 clubs won 25 games.

Kovesdy paces the Sun Devils offense in scoring average (12.5), rebounds (6.5) and shooting percentage (60.0), while Westerberg averages 11.0 points and 5.1 rebounds.

Senior guard Jill Noe started 27 games and ranks third on the club in scoring at 8.0 points per game.

The Sun Devils had a chance to extend their 10-game winning streak by advancing in the Pac-10 tournament, but were upset by UCLA 60-59 in the semifinals March 5.

Kovesdy scored 18 points and Westerberg chipped in 12 to go along with four assists for Arizona State, which squandered a nine-point halftime lead.

The Sun Devils turned the ball over 26 times and were unable to contain the Bruins' Lisa Willis, who scored 20 second-half points and finished with 27.

``Lisa Willis hit some tough shots and took over a little bit,'' Turner Thorne said. ``I knew the more aggressive team was going to win, and I'm disappointed it wasn't us. We'll use it as fuel for the fire.''

Stephen F. Austin (23-7), which has won eight straight games, makes its 18th tournament appearance and first since 2001-02.

The Ladyjacks, who finished first in the Southland Conference with a 14-2 mark, are 10-17 all time in the tournament and have advanced as far as the regional final on five occasions.

They earned an automatic tournament bid with a 56-48 win Saturday over Texas-San Antonio to capture their 15th Southland Conference tournament title in 19 years.

Senior Britany Vinson scored 13 of her 17 points in the first half, and fellow senior LaToya Mills added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Mills leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 17.1 and 9.2 per game, respectively, while Vinson averages 10.8 points as a reserve.

The winner will play either No. 5 seed Utah or 12th-seeded Middle Tennessee State in the second round Monday.