ASU WBB regroups in late third quarter to beat rival Arizona for first time since 2022

Arizona State women’s basketball was a solid favorite against Arizona on Wednesday.

But consider the flip side.

UA came to Tempe on a seven-game win streak in the rivalry and with a chance to inflict a big hit on ASU’s NCAA Tournament chances.

Plus ASU was on a two-game losing streak with four losses in its previous six games.

So when the Wildcats opened the second half at Desert Financial Arena on a 17-2 run, transforming a seven-point halftime deficit into an eight-point lead, there was ample reason for the Sun Devils to worry or worse.

“We could have easily crumbled,” ASU coach Molly Miller said.

Instead, the Sun Devils outscored UA 15-6 over the final four minutes of the third quarter and 6-0 late in the fourth for a 68-61 win before 6,121, the largest home rivalry crowd in school history.

ASU improved to 6-1 in games decided by single digits and 18-4 overall in its first season under Miller. The win over UA is the Sun Devils’ first since February 2022, ending a rivalry losing stretch of 1,148 days.

“In that timeout (at 4:38 third quarter) they regrouped,” Miller said. “You could see some confidence in their eye, and we swung back.

“It was rely on our defense, rely on our defense. We’ll go on droughts where we don’t score, but this team’s nature is to get stops. During that timeout, we re-set and said three stops in a row. Eventually we’ll see the ball go in the basket.”

Arizona’s only points over the last four minutes of the third were on free throws, and ASU led 50-49 going into the fourth.

The Wildcats had a pair of one-point leads early in the fourth but trailed after that as well as over the entire first half.

“We put ourselves in a position to win,” first-year UA coach Becky Burke said. “We had them really out of sorts, we mixed up defense. Just got loose with a couple of things here and there. Got a lot of kids in that locker room that wish they could have had a play or two back and this thing could have gone the other way.”

UA was without leading scorer Mickayla Perdue and Tanyuel Welch due to ankle injuries. They could be back for the rivalry rematch Feb. 14 in Tucson. Kamryn Kitchen, transfer from Virginia, made her first college start.

ASU had four double-figure scorers with forwards McKinna Brackens and Heloisa Carrera recording double-doubles. Gabby Elliott led all scorers with 22. Her steal and subsequent free throw with 43 seconds remaining were game clinchers.

“Of course, I wanted the ball because I went for it,” Elliott said. “But to actually end up with it and get the foul, I kind of knew the game is secure. I can make a couple of free throws, we can breathe a little bit more.”

ASU, currently projected by ESPN as an NCAA Tournament No. 11 seed, remains at home against Kansas State on Sunday and Oklahoma State on Feb. 4. Wins in those games would lift the Sun Devils to 20 victories for the first time since 2019-20. Their last NCAA appearance was in 2019.