It was fun while it lasted.
The Arizona State Sun Devils' special season came to an end in the Women's First Four on Thursday, falling to the Virginia Cavaliers in a heartbreaking fashion in Iowa City, 57-55.
Just one year ago, the program hired Molly Miller as its next head coach for the Sun Devils, and she has led the team to an impressive turnaround.
Despite the loss, Arizona State should be proud of its accomplishments from the start of the season to the final buzzer, including a trip to the NCAA Women's Tournament for the first time since 2019.
"The game itself, I was really, really proud of the fight and the attitude that they had not to give up that second half," Miller said postgame. "It was an amazing testament of giving it their all, faced some adversity. Did not play well during the first half, but they never gave up. They gave themselves a chance to went in a great ball game. So really, really proud of their effort.
"No one can say that this team didn't try from our first game all the way to the last possession."
On Thursday morning, it was announced that Miller made it to the trip with the team, hours before the tipoff, especially after she had missed the trip due to illness earlier this week.
Throughout the game against the Cavaliers, senior guard Marley Washenitz led the Sun Devils in scoring with 19 points while drilling five three-pointers from way downtown.
She was one of the four players to score in double figures for the team; senior guard Gabby Elliott had 11 points, and sophomore forward Heloisa Carrera and junior forward McKinna Brackens scored ten points apiece.
Washenitz also made a game-tying three-pointer with under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter before Virginia junior guard Kymora Johnson responded with a three-pointer to hand Arizona State a loss in crunch time.
In the postgame presser, Washenitz expressed gratitude for being a part of Miller's first season in Tempe and mentioned creating the winning culture.
"Number one, obviously, we won," Washenitz said. "We did a lot of the things that people didn't believe in us from the jump. But on top of that, she, like I said all the time, she recruited good people and good players, and when you do that, it's easy to set culture. She recruited like-minded people who think like her, who believe in her and her staff. When you do that, it's easy to create that culture. I've been really fortunate to be part of that.
"And have that great group of girls and now sisters for life. But like I said, it's really easy when you recruit the right people and players."
Washenitz has said it right. She became an instant fan favorite, being known for her special moment in a home game against the UNLV Lady Rebels while making a 'Hail Marley' shot from the three-point line for the Sun Devils' victory back in November.
No matter how Arizona State's season ended in Iowa City, the future is bright for the women's basketball program.
With Miller at the helm, the future is very bright indeed.