Rivas Ecopolis ace Crystal Langhorne has claimed home advantage will finally count this time with her team determined to ensure they dispatch Frisco Sika Brno in Madrid on Wednesday to reach the last eight of the competition.

The rookies have been one of the stories of the season to date although having initially exploded onto the EuroLeague Women scene with a stunning seven straight wins, they are now beginning to feel the pace of a hectic schedule.

Perhaps then, a lethargic performance in Liga Femenina was understandable and entirely forgivable a mere 48 hours after the energy sapping exertion of winning in the Czech Republic last Friday night.

Much to the obvious delight and relief of Langhorne, Rivas still dug out a priceless 54-51 win over Hondarribia-Irun and having maintained their challenge at the top of the Spanish League, the American was already focusing on Wednesday's decider with Brno claiming home advantage will be key.

"We really came together as a team once again and we were just really happy to come out with a win."

"There were a lot more turnovers than usual and you could see from the way that we played that a lot of our players are feeling tired from travelling to Brno and we are focusing on getting some rest ahead of Wednesday."

"The victory we got in Brno was really very good for us, especially now that we have come back home and we will be playing them for the third time here in Rivas."

"I truly believe that the more we play against them, the better we will perform against them."

"I think they probably just shocked us the first time we played and when we were better prepared for the second game which we were able to win so this time at home we will be really ready for them."

The dangerous and talented Dewanna Bonner produced a big performance for Frisco Sika Brno in the second game and it was almost enough to bring the involvement of Rivas to an end but in spite of this, Langhorne doesn't expect any specific plans to lock down her fellow American.

She explained, "I don't think we will be making too many special preparations for Dewanna Bonner in this game and probably just focusing more on what we do defensively as a team."

"It was just a case of her making a lot of shots and getting the chance to take too many free-throws and we are capable of just playing a little more controlled against her this time and making sure nobody else steps up."

Having enjoyed such a remarkable start to their EuroLeague Women history, the New York native believes their ability to surprise teams has now gone and that is making things a little harder for Rivas to continue making such a big impression.

Equally, she was also honest enough to admit that the players did take their foot off the pedal a little as the Qualifying round came to a close - something they now know isn't an option in such an elite competition.

"I think we did get a little lax towards the end of qualifying and with the additional factor of teams spending more time scouting us, you just can't do that in EuroLeague Women because of the level that every team plays at."

"You have to turn up and really play hard on in every game that you play."

"We try not to think anymore about how far we can go - whenever you start looking too far ahead that is when you end up losing."

"We are only focusing on the game with Brno because they are a talented team and we need to get that win above anything else that we do this season."

Langhorne has an added incentive to fire Rivas into the last eight and that is because she was perhaps surprisingly overlooked for the forthcoming 2010 EuroLeague Women All Star game having featured last year.

Having been the reference player for her new club all season averaging an impressive 18 points and 8 rebounds, it was team-mates Clara Bermejo-Moreno and Catherine Joens who landed places.

While naturally pleased for them, it was hard not to sense a real disappointment on the face of the talented forward when I asked her if she was hurt that she had not been given the nod.

"It's okay from my point of view I guess because I know there are a lot of great players not just in my own team but right across EuroLeague Women."

"I was just glad a couple of my team-mates made it to reflect the great season we are having."

If missing out on successive All Star games is a blow, Langhorne can't afford to think too much about it right now. Her focus is solely on shooting down Brno and grabbing that quarter-final ticket with both hands.