(Tempe, AZ) Returning from their first conference road trip, the Sun Devils returned back home.
Last Saturday, Molly Miller’s squad was handed their first loss to the hands of the BYU Cougars in Provo Utah 71-62. That broke their school record win streak at 15.
ASU (15-1 and 2-1) faced the University of Central Florida Knights (8-6 and 0-3). Texas Tech still had an unbeaten record at 16-0 followed by ASU, TCU and ISU with one loss.
First Quarter
Forty seconds into the game, Heloisa Carrera’s turn around hook shot got the scoring going. Not until the 6:29 mark in the quarter was the 2-2 tie broken off a layup by Marley Washenitz.
Both teams were slow to get into their respective offensive flows as halfway through the quarter the score was tied at 4-4.
Out of the time out, Washenitz sank two free throws and a midrange jumper to kick start the Devils scoring 8-4.
The last half the quarter, ASU accelerated the pace on offense, but also let the Knights back in the game after leading 12-5. They still kept UCF under double figures with a 15-9 advantage at the end of the quarter.
Second Quarter
Washenitz after committing her second foul midway through the opening quarter, was still on the bench to start the second quarter.
UCF with a quick 3-0 spurt the start the quarter, made it a ine possession contest 15-12.
ASU without Washenitz looked out of sync as they turned the ball over on consecutive possessions.
A and one opportunity snapped the Devils’ scoring drought and opened up an eight point lead 20-12 near the halfway point of the quarter. That was followed by McKinna Brackens pull up jumper in the paint got the lead to double digits 22-12.
Foul trouble plagued the Devils in the second quarter and it showed on the offensive end as they weren’t as fluid as they’ve been so far this season.
The Knights kept pecking away at their deficit and outscored ASU 12-11 to trail at halftime 26-21.
Halftime
ASU shot 42% (11-26) to 35% (8-23) for UCF. The Sun Devils had their issues at the charity stripe only converting 4-9. With both guards Elliott and Washentiz having two fouls apiece, there was a disconnect and even though ASU led at the half, a tenuous five point lead should have been a lot more. The Sun Devils were 0-6 from three point land, but their 14-2 fast beak points were what kept them ahead.
Third Quarter
Carrera opened the scoring with a post up move in the key and next possession ran the floor for a fast break layup.
UCF still stayed within striking distance as Washenitz picked up here third foul with 5:50 left in the quarter.
Brackins with an offensive rebound and put back off a missed free throw got the lead back to ten 33-23.
The Knights’ offense was stagnant as they didn’t get their second basket til 4:56 in the quarter and trailed 33-25 at the media timeout.
Washenitz was put back in out of the timeout, but quickly picked up her fourth foul and was replaced.
Quietly, ASU got their double digit lead back 41-27 with a layup in the paint and fast break layup both by Carrera and the Sun Devils looked to put more distance between them and UCF.
Miller had the players push the fast break off transition successfully to regain their offensive flow and with 2:24 left in the quarter they pulled away 45-27.
After the timeout, the Knights ran off six straight points 45-33 to end the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
UCF’s Jacorriah Bracey hit the game’s second three pointer to start the quarter. The Devils answered with three quick buckets and the lead was back to sixteen 52-36.
At 6:58 left in the game, Brackens hit ASU’s first three pointer.
The last media timeout at 4:59 saw ASU up with an almost insurmountable lead 57-38.
ASU stretched the lead to twenty off an Elliott three ball 61-41 with just 3:05 left in the contest.
Back to back three’s this one by Last Tear Poa saw the Sun Devils perimeter game finally come to life 65-42 with 1:34 left.
Devils closed out a challenging win 68-45.
Wrap Up
With the two starting guards in foul trouble throughout the better part of the game, Molly Miller stressed pushing the ball in transition and taking high percentage shots in the paint, ASU overcame their lack of a perimeter game.
Neither team shot the ball well behind the arc with UCF leading the way going 4-16 and the Sun Devils 3-11.
One of the big keys to the win was ASU out-rebounded the Knights 37-28 along with a huge edge in points in the paint 40-18 advantage Devils.
The game was very sloppy at times with 37 turnovers combined.
Heloisa Carrera led all scorers with 20 points on 8-12 shooting.McKinna Brackens added 15 points and Gabby Elliott chipped in 12 points.
No UCF player reached double figures in scoring, with Summer Yancy scoring 8 points but only on 2-7 shooting. That in itself showed the dominant team defense that ASU deployed.
Tonight’s attendance was 2,422 with school still being out of session.
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