Not once, not twice, but thrice: Sun Devils defeat Arizona, advance to second round of Big 12 Tournament

Not once, not twice, but thrice. The Arizona State Sun Devils defeat the Arizona Wildcats, 54-51, in a close game to advance to the second round of the Big 12 Women's Tournament.

It was the first win in a conference tournament in the Molly Miller era, and the third time the Sun Devils have defeated the Wildcats this season. More importantly, it was a much-needed win for Arizona State's hopes to make it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.

"Excited for the opportunity," Miller said postgame. "This is a team that has won 23 games now. We've had 10 Conference opponent wins, and we're ready for this moment. We're ready for March. We're primed, and they'll be focused. We will hit the books in the film and come out and give it our best."

Sophomore forward Heloisa Carrera was the only player who scored in double figures for Arizona State with 16 points throughout the game.

Throughout the first few minutes of the game, the Wildcats had a 10-2 lead over the Sun Devils, who were struggling to find the rhythm of the offense.

After that, Arizona State bounced back and became aggressive in the paint, outscoring Arizona in points in the paint 36-18 while battling through foul trouble the whole game.

Despite missing Gabby Elliott and McKinna Brackens' impact on the offense, redshirt junior forward Deborah Davenport contributed off the bench with six points and eight rebounds.

Additionally, she, alongside senior guard Last-Tear Poa, was one of the Arizona State defenders who forced Arizona to miss a potential game-tying three-pointer.

"It's not a bad thing when you have teams beating up on each other," Miller said. "It's actually a really good thing. That means it's extremely competitive. Every night, it's going to be a fight these players are battling. No game on the schedule is a given, and you're seeing that and the parity."

The Sun Devils' identity for the whole season is bringing in the defensive intensity while finding players to step up.

Arizona State's next opponent will be Audi Crooks and the Iowa State Cyclones, whom they lost to in a blowout back in February.

To advance to the next round, they'll need to stay out of foul trouble and expect Elliott and Brackens to have bounce-back performances on scoring.

Other than that, win or lose, the Sun Devils continue to stack wins and get one percent better since Miller's arrival in Tempe, and it'll be exciting to see how it continues to build on in the future.