TEMPE- The Arizona State Sun Devils lost its first home game of the season to the Kansas State Wildcats, 74-67, despite fighting until the final buzzer.
Head coach Molly Miller told reporters after the game that the Sun Devils shifted their sense of urgency in the second half. That resulted in Arizona State losing by single digits rather than getting blown out—a moral victory for the team.
"They made shots, and we missed shots," Miller said what went wrong for the team postgame. "It'd be pretty simple. Now you look at it, we made three more field goals than them, but they're threes. You can't expect to win a ball game after giving up 12 threes, and most of them were in that first half. So then you're digging out of a hole. I mean, a really big hole, and that's hard to do. Now, it's no moral victories, but they didn't lie down and die."
Miller also gave credit to Jeff Mittie, the head coach of the Kansas State women's basketball, for giving Arizona State a challenge in the duration of the game.
Throughout the game, the Wildcats' defense was focused on Sun Devils fifth-year guard Gabby Elliott, who went 3-for-11 from the three-point line.
She ended up playing 40 minutes and recording 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
Additionally, senior guard Marley Washenitz got into some foul trouble and finished with nine points, two rebounds, three assists and four steals.
"They [Kansas State] were really focused on Gabby [Elliott]," said junior forward McKinna Brackens, who led the Sun Devils with 20 points, six rebounds, and five steals.
"When you have Gabby out there and stretches out the zone and the middle opens up a little bit, we knew coming in that they were going to try to take away that middle and the high post. Over the course of the game, I had to figure out where the open spots were and allow my teammates to give me the ball in the open spots."
The bad news is the Sun Devils fall to 18-5 (5-5 Big 12), but the good news is they have shown the ability to never give up.
Arizona State will wrap up its final game of the three-game homestand on Wednesday, welcoming the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Tempe.