TEMPE – The Sun Devil women’s basketball team (17-2, 4-2 Big 12) remained perfect at home (11-0) following a 67-51 win over Kansas (11-8, 1-6) on Saturday.
At the end of the day, ASU was among a group of four teams – Utah (5-2), Oklahoma State (4-2), West Virginia (4-2) – with two losses in conference play. The quartet trails No. 10 TCU, No. 17 Texas Tech and No. 18 Baylor, all currently tied for first place at 6-1.
Sun Devil standouts
- Heloisa Carrera set new career highs for points (22) and free throws made (10) and attempted (12). Carrera made 86 percent of her field goals (6-7) and 83 percent (10-12) of her free throws and led the team with a game-high seven rebounds. Five of Carerra’s double-figure scoring games have come in her last eight games.
- Gabby Elliott scored 20 points vs. Kansas, her 17th time in 19 games scoring in double figures this season. She had her sixth 20-point game of the season on Saturday.
- Deborah Davenport had a season/career-high nine points. Davenport hit all four of her shots and also had four rebounds.
- Marley Washenitz did a little bit of everything on Saturday. Her afternoon included four points, five rebounds, a game-high four steals and a season-high three blocks.
How it happened
- For the second straight game, both ASU and its opponent got off to a slow start offensively. After TCU edged the Sun Devils 14-13 in Sunday’s opening stanza, on Saturday ASU and Kansas were knotted at 13-13 after 10 minutes.
- ASU scored its first six points via the foul line. The Sun Devils did not officially take their first shot of the game – a make by Amaya Williams – until nearly four minutes into the game. Williams’ basket gave ASU an 8-7 lead.
- ASU’s offense came to life in the second quarter, outscoring Kansas 27-16. After shooting only 27 percent (3-11 FGs) in the first quarter, the Sun Devils successfully deposited 77 percent (10-13 FGs) of their attempts in the second quarter. Elliott (3-4 FGs), Carrera (3-3 FGs) and Deborah Davenport (3-3 FGs) combined to shoot 90 percent (9-10) in the second quarter. Williams’ buzzer-beater sent the Sun Devils to the locker room with a 40-29 lead.
- Kansas got as close as nine points twice in the third quarter. The Jayhawks never got back within single digits after Carrera hit two free throws to give ASU a 44-33 lead with 7:58 remaining in the third quarter.
Notes
- ASU’s 27 points in the second quarter tied its second-highest point total in a quarter this season. The Sun Devils also scored 27 points in the fourth quarter of their season opening win over Coppin State. ASU’s highest point total in a quarter this season is 29 (scored in the third quarter of win over SEMO on Nov. 29).
- The 22 points Kansas scored in the second half represented the fewest points scored by an ASU opponent in the second half this season.
- ASU has attempted 20 or more free throws in five of its six Big 12 games. It has made 79 percent (93-118) of its free throws in its four wins.
- Kansas had 24 turnovers on Saturday. It was the 10th time this season ASU has forced 20 or more turnovers in a game. That includes a trio of games forcing 30-plus turnovers: 33 vs. Coppin St. (Nov. 3), 31 vs. San Francisco (Dec. 6) and a season-high 36 at Penn St. (Dec. 9).
- Head coach Molly Miller has now won her last 34 home games going back to the 2023-24 season when she was the head coach at GCU.
- In its 11 home games (all wins), ASU has outscored the opposition by an average of 69.0-51.4 (+17.6 scoring margin). Only one visiting team (Colorado - 63) has scored more than 60 points.
Up next
The Sun Devils are back on the road for games at West Virginia (Wednesday at 7 p.m. EST/5 p.m. MST) and at Cincinnati on Saturday (2 p.m. EST/12 p.m. MST).