SAN DIEGO — With the game still within reach late in the first half, Arizona State needed a spark to break away from San Diego.
The answer?
ASU coach Molly Miller’s favorite defensive energizer — a charge.
Sun Devils senior guard Marley Washenitz stepped in front of Torreos forward Malia Tharpe to draw the offensive foul. From there, the tide officially turned in Sparky’s favor.
“She is our engine,” Miller said of Washenitz. “She makes us go. She gives us the energy, and we feed off her. She is so important to this team and gives our team juice.”
Washenitz finished with 19 points, shooting 4-for-7 from the three-point line and 7-for-12 from the field, adding six assists, four rebounds and three charges to lead her squad to a dominant 79-47 victory in the Sun Devils’ first road game of the year.
The win marked Miller’s 300th career win across her three coaching stops: Drury, Grand Canyon and Arizona State.
“I reflect on all the people that were a part of those 300 wins,” Miller said. “You definitely cannot do it alone. I have had the best people around me.”
To get her 300th win, Miller relied on a strong outing from her backcourt.
Fifth-year guard Gabby Elliott led the way with 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting and a 6-for-8 mark from beyond the arc. She also tallied seven rebounds and four assists.
“She has got the green light,” Miller said of Elliott. “She does it in all different facets of the game. She is a weapon out there, and we are using her. (We) are really proud of her performance tonight.”
The Maroon and Gold also got contributions from their youth, as freshman guard Amaya Williams logged a career high in minutes (34), steals (4) and assists (11).
“It was amazing,” Williams said. “My teammates kept hitting their shots. It was like bang, bang, bang, bang.”
With chippy play headlining much of the first half, the Sun Devils’ bench did not shy away from making their presence known. One leader really emerged off the bench, and it wasn’t even a player in uniform.
Despite being out with a hand injury, fifth-year guard Last-Tear Poa made her presence known with her leadership and ability to keep the bench engaged throughout the night.
“We call that binergy — bench energy,” Miller said. “It is really important to our program. For her (Poa) to cheer on a freshman who just had 11 assists tonight, that is what this team is all about. They are selfless; they root for each other. That is a pretty special team.”
Miller’s squad started out slow, falling victim to some foul calls that placed the Sun Devils in some trouble early. Leading by seven after one quarter of play, Miller had her team tighten up and trust the playcalls.
“Just clean it up,” Elliott said about the adjustments the team made. “(Miller) told us to really just focus on rebounding and listen to the playcalls. Just stick to the playcall and go from there.”
The Sun Devils dominated from beyond the arc, shooting 64% from three. It was a season-high mark for the team, whose former high was just 30.8%.
“We knew we were going to face zone defense,” Miller said. “ When you face zone, you will get clean three looks if you move the ball, so I said rise up and shoot it.”
The Maroon and Gold defense suffocated the Toreros, limiting San Diego to a low 29% shooting from the field. The last time Arizona State achieved this feat was back in the 2023-2024 season when they played Montana State at home.
Additionally, the Sun Devils’ 47 points allowed is the lowest total allowed since the 2021-2022 season.
“We wanted to keep them in the 40s,” Miller said. “They rose up to the challenge. Sometimes you can mentally check out when the score is that big of a margin, but you set individual goals during that time, like keeping them in single digits for the quarter. They ended up with 47, so I am really proud of that.”
Arizona State will continue its California road trip, as it’s set to face Santa Clara on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. MST.
“They have got a really good basketball team,” Miller said of Santa Clara. “They have got an inside presence, they can hit the three, they run offense with pace, and they are good defenders.”
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