Senior guard Marley Washenitz was looking for a pass to help Arizona State regain the lead against Oregon State and found fifth-year guard Last-Tear Poa, who, in the biggest moment, came up clutch.
Washenitz found Poa wide open in the left corner. Poa drained the corner three, giving ASU a 55-53 lead while silencing the home crowd and forcing the Beavers to call a timeout with 10.6 seconds to go.
Out of the timeout on the other end, Poa came up big defensively, forcing the drive and playing great contest defense to make sure the shot was no good, and keeping the Sun Devils winning ways going.
ASU defeated (12-0) Oregon State (6-5) 55-53 in an overtime classic at the Gill Coliseum on Sunday afternoon and pushed its win streak to 12. The 55 points scored marked ASU’s lowest of the season to this point. Certain Sun Devil stars like junior forward McKinna Brackens broke out; however, another had a career-worst shooting day in the maroon and gold.
Graduate guard Gabby Elliott had her worst shooting performance since donning the maroon and gold. Elliott missed her first eight shots of the game before making a mid-range jump shot in the third quarter. Elliott’s overall splits were 2-for-16 from the field and 0-for-3 from downtown.
Coach Molly Miller’s stifling defense and defense-first mentality helped ASU achieve victory despite the lackluster scoring and shooting night.
The Sun Devils garnered 13 steals compared to the Beavers' five. ASU also generated 21 turnovers while committing only 11 of their own. The Sun Devils scored three more points off turnovers, 12-to-9.
Leading the way defensively for the Sun Devils was Elliott with four steals, Washenitz added four steals, junior guard Jyah LoVett with three steals and Poa with two steals.
ASU’s offense struggled Sunday afternoon, getting outshot percentage-wise by the Beavers 37.9 to 35.6 from the field. The biggest thing for the Sun Devils was the 4-for-13 clip from three, the six extra made free throws and nine extra attempts.
The Sun Devils got outrebounded for the second straight game, 42-to-30. ASU had a tough time slowing down senior center Nene Sow, who had 12 rebounds and three on the offensive glass, and junior guard Kennedie Shuler, who was a thorn in the Sun Devils side all night and also collected 10 rebounds.
For ASU, the only player to surpass five rebounds was sophomore forward Heloisa Carrera, who collected seven rebounds, including one on the offensive side.
The Sun Devils will look to continue program history and extend the unbeaten streak to 13 when they face the Gonzaga Bulldogs Tuesday, Dec 16, at 7:00 p.m. MST at the McCarthey Athletic Center.