With the No. 25 and No. 17 ranked teams in the country coming to Pullman this Friday and Sunday- in UCLA and USC, respectively- the Washington State women’s basketball team knows it cannot afford to have any lapses in effort for a 40 minute game. Especially, not after the team saw a tie ballgame at 24 at the half against then no. 14 Arizona State evaporate in a third quarter in which it was outscored 25-9.

Even more glaring for the Cougars (11-5, 2-3) was the ratio in which they were rebounded. The Sun Devils outrebounded WSU 45-29 in Sunday’s contest with 16 of those being offensive boards, something Head Coach June Daugherty characterized as being “the ballgame.”

“When we’re able to defensively rebound, we are able to get into our running game and avoid the set defense that you saw with Arizona State,” Daugherty said. “I think the other thing is that it is a game of runs- they hit a three to open the second half- and we just didn’t respond. We need to respond with more energy and be willing to put whatever is happening out there behind us.”

WSU will have opportunities this weekend to both cleanup its mistakes displayed against ASU and also secure its first victory over a ranked opponent this season. The Trojans (14-2, 2-2) snuck into the AP top-25 this week at No. 25 after upsetting crosstown rival and then no. 15 UCLA 71-68 on Sunday in a game that many Cougar players said they watched.

“It says that this is the conference of champions,” sophomore forward Louise Brown said when asked of what the Trojans hot start indicates about the Pac-12. “USC, they are a great team. They are a different style of a team, but it kind of gives us a little bit of an advantage knowing that they just snuck into the rankings. It means that it is now just an even bigger opportunity for us to get a win against a top-25 team.”

With the Trojans being another defensive-minded team, there was no mistaking the seriousness in Daugherty’s tone of voice at her press conference Tuesday when she said her team needed to get tough on the defensive boards. Taking care of the basketball and limiting the Trojans offensive touches both were points of emphasis mentioned, but neither bigger than rebounding at both ends.

“In the five games we have lost, we have been out-rebounded in every one of them but one,” Daugherty said. “But most importantly, the opponent has been able to get double figures in offensive rebounds and that’s just not us. We have to address that and we have to get better in a hurry.”

With seven of the team’s 14 players standing six feet or taller, players know that this is an adjustment that can be made, but not unless each individual buys into the mentality. The Cougs have both won and lost wire-to-wire contests this year and those results have largely been predicated on the execution in playing a 40-minute game and hitting the boards hard.

“I think our team has underestimated how much of an impact that has on a win or a loss,” Brown said. “It’s a huge a huge mentality thing for us- mental toughness and physical toughness. When we toughen up as a team as a whole, that will come with it.”

No. 17 UCLA (11-4, 3-1) may present an even stiffer test on Sunday following Friday night’s action. The focus there for WSU will be on responding to yet another defensive challenge against its third ranked opponent in as many games, especially if the matchup with USC does not go as planned. Battling through adversity is a trait that is continuously being taught to the nine underclassmen on the roster.

“We’re really young and we haven’t really gone through adversity a lot so, they’ve just got to get used to it I guess,” senior guard Dawnyelle Awa said. “We’re getting into the nitty-gritty of the Pac-12.”

With five teams from the Pac-12 ranked in the top-25- UCLA being one of them- these final 13 conference games will put the strength of what is widely considered to be the nation’s deepest conference on display for the Cougs. Rebounding and keeping the assist-to-turnover ratio at 2-1 are Daugherty’s keys to competing with the Bruins, but the coach and her players are aware this will be their toughest slate of games to date.

A 2-3 mark in conference play could easily turn into 2-5 in the span of three days if the team is not careful. And while Brown adopted the mantra of taking games one at a time regardless of the opponent, Daugherty spoke for the majority of the program when stating the importance of getting that first win out of the way over ranked opposition.

“I think that it will help solidify how good we really are as a team and I think that it will help continue to build confidence with our players, our fan base, everybody out there to just know that the Pac-12 is really good this year and we’re a really good team too,” Daugherty said. “When you get in against a ranked opponent, it makes it all the more fun, but it helps build that mindset that we belong here and we’re competitors too.”

WSU handed the then No. 10 ranked Maryland Terrapins their first loss of the season last year in a tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico in November. The Terps also just so happened to make it to the Final Four in April last season as well. Many players on this team have beaten big-time opponents before, so it is now a matter of executing the same way Friday and Sunday.

Tipoff for Friday’ game against USC is scheduled for 8 p.m at Beasley Coliseum and Sunday’s matchup with UCLA a matinee start of 12 p.m in Beasley. Both games will also be picked up by the Pac-12 Networks.