TEMPE- Three days after getting blown out by the Iowa State Cyclones on the road, the Arizona State women's basketball team won a crucial conference game at home.
The Sun Devils (22-7, 9-7 Big 12) blew out the Houston Cougars (7-20, 1-15 Big 12), 81-56, as they had a hot start in the opening quarter and haven't looked back since.
In the postgame, Cougars head coach Matthew Mitchell, who is in his first year with the team, noticed the Sun Devils executed pretty well and were hard to beat throughout Saturday's game.
"She built (and) constructed the team," Mitchell said of first-year head coach Molly Miller. "They're talented, and she's obviously a really good coach, and has been for a long time. They have a fantastic team. They played fantastically today. They really were tough (to beat) today. We had a hard time (responding)."
Miller talked about the mentality and fight Arizona State shows from the start of the season in her first year with the program.
Sophomore forward Heloisa Carrera contributed big-time for the Sun Devils after a rough showing in Wednesday's game on the road.
She led Arizona State in scoring with 23 points, along with eight rebounds and two steals, while playing 28 minutes of action.
"Shout out to (Heloisa Carrera) today, she checked in and did her job," Miller said. "It was to show up and be a huge presence in the paint, and she did that today, and I'm proud of them for not only accepting what their jobs and their roles are right now, embracing them, but knowing what other people's jobs and rules are and setting them up. We have 15 assists at half. We're playing good team basketball right now, and we have that extra mentality edge and the energy edge that we needed to come out quick today."
From the start to the last remaining games of the season, the Sun Devils' identity is known for their pace and tough, tenacious defense.
Miller is bringing the winning culture to Arizona State, just as Kenny Dillingham has done it so far for the football program over the past three years.
In the first quarter, senior guard Marley Washenitz led the Sun Devils in scoring with 12 of her 14 points and three three-pointers made against the Cougars. She also recorded eight rebounds and four steals in Arizona State's crucial victory to prepare for the Big 12 Tournament.
When asked about her confidence, Washenitz also noted that the mentorship program she is part of benefits her in the long term.
“Trusting the work I've been putting in from the summer all the way up until today," Washenitz said. "I actually had a mentorship program going on, and I was talking to this girl about building her confidence and I love being a part of something like that because it almost feels like I'm talking to my younger self and I feel like that helped me in today's game.
"The confidence and pushing through things and as an athlete in sports and in life you're going to struggle with things and adversity is going to hit. It’s how you respond to it so I've been very fortunate to be in an environment here at ASU with the staff and my teammates to uplift me even on my down days and when I'm fulfilling my job to the best of my abilities.”
As the Sun Devils have two games to play, they look to get revenge on Wednesday at home against the BYU Cougars, who handed the team its first loss of the season in January.
Arizona State also has the chance to continue the preparation for the Big 12 Tournament and are one of the teams on the bubble watch for this year's NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
"Being able to get that revenge is something we definitely want, especially because it was our first loss of the season," Washenitz said. "They knew how special that one was for them, and now we want to make sure that we have that same mentality coming into (Wednesday's game)."