TEMPE- In the first year of the Molly Miller era, the Arizona State Sun Devils have their first 6-0 start since the 1991-92 season after winning over the Utah Tech Trailblazers, 81-54.
"I mean, it's great, but I'm more dialed in to how we're doing it and how we can improve," Miller said postgame. "Because in this program, I've preached from the beginning, we're not going to take shortcuts and what that process looks like. We're not going to shortchange, and so these kids have really bought into one game at a time.
"And Gabby [Elliott] said it best is listening to her on the side. We want the now results like we're not going to come in here and wait for this thing to progress, but we're also mindful of the progress and the process. So proud of this team, they've bought in, [and] they're really fun to coach.
In 1992, the Sun Devils were led by Maura McHugh, who served six seasons as head coach from 1987-1993, and had a 19-10 record. Through nine games, they were undefeated until they fell to Saint Mary's on Jan. 4, 1992.
Arizona State also appeared in the NCAA women's tournament for the first time in nearly a decade as the No. 6 seed, falling to No. 11 DePaul in the first round that year.
Fast forward to 33 years, the Sun Devils brought in Charli Turner Thorne as head coach, leading them to 14 appearances in the NCAA women's tournament and six appearances in the WNIT.
The furthest Arizona State made to the NCAA women's tournament was the Elite Eight, both in 2007 and 2009, where they had Briann January as their point guard.
Earlier in March, athletic director Graham Rossini brought in Molly Miller as their next head coach for the Sun Devils women's basketball team, and the rest is history.
"It's huge," Miller said about Marley Washenitz's game-winner being ranked No. 1 on SportsCenter's Top 10. "I told my assistants. I'm like, 'gosh, I think we could have won that game by 10 or 15,' and they said, 'but this was the best thing for us.' I'm like, 'Okay, I guess so.' Not for my heart, but maybe for some exposure. The publicity is awesome, and again, it couldn't happen to a better kid, right in Marley [Washenitz].
"But when you have millions of combined views and eyes on Arizona State women's basketball, it brings attention to the university, to the program, to the city of Tempe. It's just all good, and so it's fun to highlight that. Go get your shirts, we made 'Hail Marley' shirts, so those will be fun to sport. Good stocking stuffer, too."
In the third quarter, senior guard Makayla Moore stole the ball and bounced it out of bounds off of Utah Tech player, resulting in the Sun Devils getting the possession.
Miller was seen giving her a high-five, as she always admires seeing the defense to offense plays on the court. She then challenged the call and was, fortunately, overturned, and still enjoyed seeing the team's hustle play from defense to offense.
"That just has to be normal, and you want to reward that," Miller said. "So they initially called it Utah tech. And I'm like, I'll lose a timeout off this one. I want Michaela [Moore] to know that I've got her back, like, let's challenge that. And fortunately, the call was overturned.
"But that hustle and that effort, that's our staple, that's our brand, that's that's not our ceiling, that's our floor. So when you as a team and as a coach getting excited, just reinforcing that behavior, that should become the norm."
The Sun Devils had four players scoring in double figures while having productivity from both starters and the bench.
Forward McKinna Brackens had a double-double of 19 points and ten rebounds to go along with two blocked shots.
Adding into her performance, fifth-year guard Gabby Elliott scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds while sophomore forward Heloisa Carrera recorded 12 points and seven rebounds.
One of the bright spots from Tuesday's game was freshman Amaya Williams gaining more confidence on the court from Miller, her coaching staff, and her teammates.
She played 25 minutes of action, scored 10 points, had six rebounds and three assists off the bench.
"It's just great to win games," Williams said. "I feel like we expected to get this year and start off winning games. We want to go undefeated in non-conference, so we're just doing what we're supposed to do."
Additionally, Arizona State outrebounded Utah, 62-36, while limiting their three-point shooting to just 5-for-28 from the field.
"I mean, when I heard, I was like, 'well, that's a lot,' but, again, I think it's really just a test of what we're trying to do," Elliott said. "Being able to take advantage when we have them and stuff like that, is what we want to capitalize on. And tonight, we did great with [rebounding]. She's [Molly Miller] gonna be really happy about that number of rebounds, for sure."
The Arizona State Sun Devils will return home to face Little Rock in their first game of the Thanksgiving tournament on Friday at 10:30 a.m. AZ time.