TEMPE — Arizona State women’s basketball (2-0) coach Molly Miller had one message for her team at halftime.
“Play hard,” senior guard Gabby Elliott said Miller told the team at the break. “That was literally it. Play harder.”
Just like in Monday’s victory against Coppin State, where the Sun Devils came alive late in the game to win, ASU repeated a similar trend by outscoring Eastern Washington (1-1) in the third quarter 22-8, cruising to a 73-58 victory against the Eagles on Saturday.
Elliott finished where she left off from Monday’s win, racking up 15 points and logging five rebounds. She surpassed 1,000 college career points early in the third quarter.
Junior guard Jyah LoVett also finished with double-digit points after recording zero in the previous game.
Both sides started slowly, with only seven combined points being scored in the first five minutes. However, the Sun Devils improved offensively, shooting 42% from the field and ending the quarter on a 6-2 run to grab a six-point lead.
ASU extended its advantage to 10 points early in the second quarter, with Elliott netting eight points and collecting five rebounds. Miller’s side dominated around the rim with 20 points scored in the paint, as well as recording three blocks by halftime.
The host’s full-court press caused headaches for Eastern Washington, with the Eagles committing nine turnovers in the first two quarters. The Sun Devils converted those giveaways into points, as they finished the game with 22 points off turnovers.
“It’s something we worked on,” Miller said. “We wanted to score more off our turnovers. So that was a noticeable difference for me. When we forced a turnover, we wouldn’t strike right away. We wanted to get to the paint, spray it out for them or get to the rim.
“We work on conversion a lot in practice, and I think today was better in that area.”
At the start of the second half, Eastern Washington only trailed by eight points. But as the quarter neared its conclusion, ASU roared to a 26-point lead following a 16-1 run. Defensively, Sparky held the Eagles scoreless for over four minutes while also only allowing two field goal conversions.
“My goal is single-digit quarters. That’s hard to do, and we got two of them,” Miller said. “We were more consistent offensively (in) each quarter, so that consistency is good to see.”
The Maroon and Gold finished the game strong, attacking inside to amass 12 of their 19 fourth-quarter points in the paint. Eastern Washington slightly cut into the lead, but the Sun Devils built too much distance, as they clinched their second victory under Miller.
ASU will go on the road for the first time under Miller next Thursday, as the Sun Devils face San Diego at 7 p.m. MST.
“Every routine kind of changes,” Miller said on preparing for road games. “Now we’re going to go on the road, and we’re going to have an early shoot around or a late shoot around, or film in the hotel rooms, not sleep in our own bed. So (it’s about) just getting a new routine.”
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