TEMPE- The Arizona State women's basketball team played its first conference game of the season against Colorado.
Not a total surprise, as the Sun Devils get another win in front of their home crowd over the Buffaloes on Sunday night, improving the record to 14-0. The final score is 79-63, Arizona State wins.
Since the start of the game, Arizona State got itself on board and has not trailed for the remainder of the game, although Colorado was close to either tying or taking the lead.
“That’s a good team," head coach Molly Miller said Sunday. "About as long as I’ve seen on the floor, one through five. They played really good defense, great rebounding team. It’s that dirty work that you have to worry about. I thought initially we did a pretty good job blocking out in the middle there was questionable, but at the end we knew they were going to rip it to the rim and get offensive board.
"So those were the two points of emphasis, but I'm really proud of this group. They were locked in for 3 days. I will say the prep, we didn't look at it any different. We've done prep the exact same for every single game. That consistency has been the same, but they were really locked in."
Throughout the game, the Sun Devils had four players who scored in double figures and had been productive on both ends of the court.
Forward McKinna Brackens came off the bench and had 18 points, five rebounds, and three assists while playing 27 minutes of action.
Arizona State's backcourt of guards Gabby Elliott and Marley Washenitz scored a combined 27 points and had six steals.
“There's definitely some things we need to work on, for sure, but honestly, the best thing about us or best thing for us is to just celebrate this win, go home, be with our families, and then come back and reset," Elliott said. "We know what needs to be fixed, but the biggest thing is just celebrating being 1-0 in our new season."
“They’re a good team and we knew coming into this game they were really good at offensive rebounding," Washenitz added. "That was something we really wanted to focus on. I don't think we did our best on it, but like Coach (Molly Miller) mentioned, Deborah (Davenport) really gave us a spark that we needed, and we came up in the moments we needed to. The test from them was really awesome for us. I know a lot of people say things about our strength of schedule and stuff like that, so I was just really glad to just show them it’s us."
Just last season, Arizona State dealt with various injuries, had a 10-22 (3-15 Big 12) record, and parted ways with Natasha Adair as head coach at the conclusion of the season.
This season, so far, the Sun Devils have continued to have an impressive start with an undefeated record. Miller expressed gratitude for being a part of the journey while trusting the process with players she brought in from the transfer portal.
"I pinch myself every day, and I'm very grateful, thankful and blessed," Miller said. "I couldn't imagine starting this chapter with any other group. I mean, I want to say they're easy. They're not easy. Sometimes I gotta give them a nudge. But they're willing. They've bought into the vision. We've had our highs and lows and our ups and downs, but they've always stayed the course. They've never questioned what we're trying to do and where we're trying to go."
The Sun Devils will play their next game on the road against the Utah Utes on New Year's Eve at 2 p.m. Arizona time.