The official athletics site of Arizona State University Opens in a new window
ASU Home My ASU Colleges and Schools
Sun Devil Athletics
HomeHome
ASU Home My ASU Colleges and Schools
Loading

WBB wins Big-12 opener, remains unbeaten

Game Book Opens in a new window Updated Stats Opens in a new window Buy the #HailMarley Shirt Opens in a new window
WBB wins Big-12 opener, remains unbeatenWBB wins Big-12 opener, remains unbeaten

TEMPE – The Sun Devil women’s basketball team continued its best start in program history and tied the second-longest winning streak in school history following its 79-63 win over Colorado on Sunday in the Big 12 opener for both teams.

Winning streaks

On Dec. 6, head coach Molly Miller’s first ASU squad (10-0) surpassed the 1991-92 team (9-0) for the best start in school history. With the win over Colorado (9-4, 0-1 Big 12), the Sun Devils (14-0, 1-0) tied the 2014-15 team for the second-longest winning streak in school history and are now one win away from tying the school record for consecutive wins (15), set originally by the 2008-09 team and tied by the 2015-16 team.

Longest winning streaks 

  • 15: Dec. 6, 2015 – Jan. 29, 2016
  • 15: Jan. 28 – Mar. 5, 2009
  • 14: Nov. 3, 2025 – current
  • 14: Nov. 30, 2014 – Jan. 23, 2015

Sun Devil standouts

  • After missing Tuesday’s win at Gonzaga due to injury, McKinna Brackens, who is ASU’s leader in rebounds and its second-leading scorer, scored a game-high 18 points and tied for the team lead in rebounds (five). For Brackens, it represented the 12th time in 13 games played she has scored in double figures this season.
  • Gabby Elliott (4-4 FTs, three rebounds, three assists and three steals, tied ASU for the team lead with 11 points in the first half) and Heloisa Carrera (5-7 FGs, 4-4 FTs and led ASU with 12 points in the second half) scored 14 points each. Elliott has now scored in dobule figures 12 times in 14 games.
  • Marley Washenitz (5-7 FGs, 3-4 3FGs, team-high four assists, three steals, tied Elliott for the team lead with 11 points in the first half) scored 13 points.
  • Deborah Davenport made her second consecutive start (second of career) and scored four points and tied Brackens for the team lead with five rebounds.

How it happened

  • ASU – almost literally – could not miss in the first quarter as the Sun Devils made their first seven shots, nine of their first 10 in the first quarter. ASU led by as many as 15 points (17-2 with 4:51 remaining). It went on to shoot 77 percent (10-13) for the quarter, made all four of its attempts from long range and led 26-15 after 10 minutes of play.
  • The Buffaloes outscored ASU 34-30 in the middle two quarters and went to the final period down 56-49.
  • No stranger to close games – the Sun Devils won each of their last two games by two points – it appeared Sunday’s game may be another down-to-the-wire contest after the Buffaloes outscored ASU 7-2 in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter to make it a one-possession game (58-56 ASU) for the first time since Last-Tear Poa knocked down a 3-pointer 34 seconds into the game to put ASU up 3-0.
  • The Buffaloes would draw no closer the remainder of the game as the Sun Devils answered with a 12-2 run to once again take a double-digit lead after Amaya Williams, who scored six of her seven points in the fourth quarter, knocked down a 3-pointer to once again give ASU a double-digit lead, 70-58, with 4:28 remaining.
  • ASU’s defense once again stepped up when it mattered most. After Colorado made its first three shots of the fourth quarter to pull within two points, the Sun Devils forced the Buffaloes into missing seven of their last nine shots.

Notes

  • ASU’s final FG percentage of 59.1 was its highest since it made 61.1 percent of its shots in a win over Vanderbilt in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament (Mar. 22, 2014).
  • For the ninth time this season, ASU forced 20 or more turnovers (Colorado had 22). It was also the ninth time this season the Sun Devils were able to score more than 20 points off turnovers (ASU scored 25 points).
  • Colorado (63 points) became just the fourth ASU opponent to score more than 58 points. It also became just the third ASU foe to score more than 25 points in the first half (scored 31 vs. ASU).
  • For the fourth time this season, ASU scored 26 points in a quarter (1st quarter on Sunday), its third-highest point total in a quarter this season. Combined with the 23 points it scored in the fourth quarter, ASU has now scored 20 or more points in a quarter 17 times this season.
  • ASU’s 40 points in the second half tied the third-highest scoring point total it has scored in the second half this season.
  • The Sun Devils had season highs in both free throws made (20) and attempted (23).
  • ASU’s seven 3-pointers tied its second-highest total of the season. ASU’s 58 percent shooting effort was beyond the arc was its second highest 3-point FG percentage of the season.

Up Next

The Sun Devils will take their longest break of the season in-between games (10 days). Up next will be their first Big 12 road trip for games at Utah (Wed., Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. MST) and at BYU (Sat., Jan. 3 at 2 p.m. MST). They will return home on Wed., Jan. 7 (6:30 p.m. MST) when they face UCF at Desert Financial Arena. Click here to purchase tickets.

Postgame Quotes

ASU Head Coach Molly Miller

Opening Statement: “That’s a good team. 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."

On the fourth quarter spark: “I'll take my team in that situation any day. We're not too high on the wins right now. It's one game at a time, and they really do have that mentality. It did not matter what happened in the non-conference. We said we were 0-0. It was this game, that's all we focused on, and we knew it was going to be a physical battle. This is a whole new level. I mean, the Big 12 Conference is really good top to bottom, and we saw our first test with it and we battled through.”

On the positives and negatives of this team ahead of more conference play: “Our defense can get us into any game and win us any game. It's going to happen with our defense, and they know that. We're going to hang our hat on it. We're keeping teams below their averages.That's going to give you a chance to win night in and night out. Ball security for us i something I'd like to clean up. I don't love the number of turnovers, but If we can be stronger, make better decisions. We've got a veteran group, so I think that'll come as jelling comes. They're strangers playing with each other as of 7 months ago. So just, understanding a little bit how, when, where, why the offensive comes into play in securing that basketball.”

ASU Senior Guard Gabby Elliott

On building upon the win over Colorado: “It attests to what kind of team we are. What I said earlier is basketball is a game of runs, so if you get rattled by a run, this isn't the game for you. We're not really worried about that because we know what type of team we are. We know how to weather storms. Been doing it all offseason just to prepare us for this. We just take this game and build on it because this is exactly what Big 12 play is going to look like night in and night out.”

On heading into the break: “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. We know what needs to be fixed, but the biggest thing is just celebrating being 1-0 in our new season."

ASU Senior Guard Marley Washenitz

On her attitude heading into the break: “I’m excited to go home and see some family. I'm really fortunate to have this group of girls, and, you know, most people are looking forward to these breaks, because they’ve been around each other so long, and I can't really necessarily say that with this group. We've been so fun together and we've all just gelled naturally. So like Gabby said, I'm really excited to get away from my second family. But, just to have this confidence going into the break and then coming back with just more excitement like Gabby mentioned to get another one. Why be satisfied with the first just build on it.”

On the challenges from Colorado: “They’re a good team and we knew coming into this game they were really good at offensive ebounding. That was something we really wanted to focus on. I don't think we did our best on it, but like Coach mentioned, Deborah 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."