TEMPE — As senior guard Marley Washenitz watched her three-point shot attempt swish through the net to help Arizona State women’s basketball take back the lead late against Coppin State in the Sun Devils’ season opener, she peeked over to Coach Molly Miller with a grin and pointed three fingers to the ceiling in celebration.
On the other end, Miller smiled, seeing a little bit of herself in the Pittsburgh transfer.
“I love that kid,” Miller said. “We are wired the same in terms of competitiveness. … I feel like I can coach her up when I need to and call her up or call her out. She is one that is so steady, you know, I have no question when she is on the court that we are going to get the best of Marley.”
On the back of strong performances from its guards, such as Washenitz, the Sun Devils grabbed a 67-53 win over Coppin State in Miller’s debut on Monday night. It took the new-look Sun Devils squad some time to find a rhythm. However, when it mattered most, the experienced guard play of ASU helped the Sun Devils steady the ship.
Senior guard Gabby Elliott accumulated 16 points and led the team with seven steals, while Washenitz racked up a team-leading 17 points and tallied four steals.
Elliott has stressed the importance of building chemistry with the other guards and hopes to lean on the other backcourt players.
“I feed on Marley (Washenitz) a lot,” Elliott said. “Marley is the glue to this team. To me, without Marley, I feel like we do not go … how they celebrate me and stuff like that is what I feed off of.”
After entering the fourth quarter down three, the Maroon and Gold’s veteran guards took control of the game, scoring 17 of the Sun Devils’ 27 points in the quarter and showing their leadership capabilities.
“We scored 29 in the first half and then we scored 27 in the fourth quarter,” Miller said. “I think that is a testament to our team and our perseverance and leadership we have.”
But the leadership of the group of guards extends past just ASU’s newcomers. Junior guard Jyah LoVett and senior guard Makayla Moore remained with the team and bought into the vision of coach Miller.
“So even to get the lay of the land, those two have just welcomed me with open arms,” Miller said. “And sometimes that is hard to do because they picked the school, but they did not necessarily pick me as their coach. So they really bought into what we are trying to do, and a lot of credit goes to these kids when they were dealt these cards, they just said, ‘I am game; I am with you, coach.’”
Defense remains at the head of the snake of Miller’s operation, and the backcourt helped lead the way in the team’s strong effort on the defensive end of the floor. The top four guards in minutes, LoVett, Elliott, Washenitz and graduate guard Last-Tear Poa, combined for 15 out of the team’s 19 steals. Their passion and energy trickled down to the rest of the squad, which combined to force 33 Coppin State turnovers.
“You have got some leaders and scrappy guards in there that lead the way, but then everyone else gets in tune with that same aggressiveness,” Miller said.
On top of playing a crucial role on defense, Poa’s passing proved to be crisp, as she led the Sun Devils with 10 assists.
“She values passing,” Miller said. “That’s what is beautiful about a point guard. When assists make her happier than scoring herself, then you know you have got a true point guard on your hands.”
The backcourt will look to build on its success and keep the student section roaring when it welcomes Eastern Washington into Desert Financial Arena on Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. MST.
Washenitz, who enters her fourth and final year of college basketball, hopes to see a similar showing from the fans this weekend.
“This is one of the biggest student sections I have ever seen at a women’s basketball game … I would love to see that continue to grow and for it to be even bigger,” Washenitz said.
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