TEMPE, Ariz. — As fifth-year guard Last-Tear Poa dribbled the final seconds off the clock in front of an electric crowd, coach Molly Miller knew a tough week of practice paid off for the now battle-tested squad. 

“It's tough sometimes on a bye week to structure practices,” Miller said. “We had a really tough first day back. I think this team, more than anything, believes that they’re going to be ready for the next one, even when you take a knock like we did against TCU.”

Arizona State (17-2, 4-2 Big 12) picked a much-needed bounce-back victory Saturday, Jan. 17, afternoon, 67-51 over a hungry Kansas (11-8, 1-6 Big 12) squad looking for its second conference win. Brazilian sophomore forward Heloisa Carrera stole the show, totaling a career high 22 points, seven rebounds and two blocks while only missing one shot from the floor. 

This victory was much needed for a Sun Devils squad that experienced their first big test of the season in a devastating 77-46 loss against No. 10 TCU on Jan. 11.

“We just weren’t ourselves and wanted to get back to Sun Devil basketball,” Miller said. “(It) was really good to see that pressure because we’re used to putting teams on their heels and TCU put us on our heels.” 

ASU flipped the script throughout Saturday's outing, keeping the Jayhawks on their heels throughout the entire game, forcing 24 turnovers while stealing the ball 12 times and accumulating eight blocks. 

“We don’t flip on a switch. Its our normal,” Miller said. “We’ve done it in June, July, August, September, October, November, December…every day we’re together, we emphasize pressure defense.” 

Miller maintains that despite not being the most talented team on the court night in and night out, the squad will continue to not rest on its defensive intensity. 

“To get on the floor, you’ve got to (fit) the system…if four people are playing hard and one isn’t, you stick out like a sore thumb, and no one wants to be that outlier,” Miller said. “We have to hang our hat on our defense and steal some possessions.” 

In their prior game against the Horned Frogs, the Sun Devils only managed a stalemate in the turnover department with 17; however, the team improved on their mistakes heavily throughout this week's practices.

“Our pressure defense didn’t show up…it was a good learning lesson,” Miller said. “They (did) a great job of internalizing it.” 

While it's normal for ASU’s points to come from many different places, the squad attacked Saturday's game with a majority of its points deriving from two players in graduate guard Gabby Elliott and Carrera, who combined for 42 of the team's 67 points. 

On cultural night, it was only right that Carrera, who hails from São Paulo, Brazil, had the performance of a lifetime, where the young forward notched a new career high in points with 22. 

“I’m proud of (Heloisa)...she scored 22 points her freshman year and now shes a go-to for us,” Miller said. “Her ceiling is so high. But what shes done already in this young season…has been phenomenal.” 

Junior forward Deborah Davenport contributed impact minutes off the bench in Saturday's game with nine points, four rebounds and two blocks.

“(Miller) always says, ‘Be the spark off the bench,’ so I try to give energy, it (doesn’t) even matter about scoring,” Davenport said. 

Despite being under the weather and not having her greatest scoring outing, senior guard Marley Washenitz added four steals and three blocks to the Sun Devils' defensive effort.

“(Washenitz) is our heartbeat out there,” Miller said. “Those hustle plays (are) the Sun Devil brand, and she emulates that brand every day in practice. You probably didn’t even know she was sick, but she doesn't make excuses for herself.”

While it was quite a successful day in forcing turnovers, ASU struggled to maintain possession, turning it over 19 times. 

“(We’ve) got to clean up our turnovers,” Miller said. “Its a wash if we can’t clean up our turnovers and continue to force teams to turn the ball over.” 

The Sun Devils will need to clean up their turnover heading into an away matchup Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 5 p.m. MST against a pesky West Virginia (14-4, 4-2 Big 12) that just forced Kansas to turn the ball over a season high 29 times. 

“It’ll be a learning opportunity,” Miller said. “They kind of throw the kitchen sink at you. So we have to be prepared at the end of the day.”