As ASU women's basketball enters the final stretch of the regular season, the Sun Devils look to take advantage of the cushion they provided themselves over the first two months.
The Sun Devils won their first 15 contests of the year, stretching from Nov. 3 to Dec. 31, before finally losing after the new year. Since then, ASU has gone 4-6 to bring its total record to 19-6 and Big 12 record to 6-6.
"You've got to have some of these wins," ASU head coach Molly Miller said following a win over Oklahoma State on Feb. 4. "We dropped a couple that we didn’t think we should have. Now we've got to get one that maybe other people think we shouldn't have."
That record has ASU in the middle of the pack in the Big 12 as the conference continues to be arguably one of the deepest in college basketball. The Sun Devils' next opponent, Utah, is one of the reasons the conference seems to be so deep in talent.
The Utes are 16-8 (7-5) and should pose a challenge for the Sun Devils as they look to bounce back from a demoralizing three-point loss at then-No. 15 Baylor.
"I'm always really confident in this team," Miller said. "I have told them we can win every single game we play in this conference, or we can lose every single game in the conference moving forward ... now the decision is up to us."
So far, ASU has held its own in the first season under Miller, who has already doubled the number of conference wins the Sun Devils had from last year. However, with how deep and tough the Big 12 is as a whole, the Sun Devils have their work cut out for them over the final month.
"It's incredible, I'm in my fourth year now, and I have not seen (the Big 12) be this competitive from top to bottom," Oklahoma State head coach Jacie Hoyt said. "Everyone's beating up on each other on any given night. There's upsets all over, so the parody is on another level that I've never seen."
With how tight the Big 12 is this year, every night brings different challenges with stout opponents across the country. This means an incredibly small margin of error for anyone competing in the conference.
"We are talking about margin of error, so our margin is so small in these games, in any Big 12 games," Miller said. "We have seen it across the board. So I really wanted them to get a feel of who they were."
The margin of error will get even smaller as the regular season conclusion inches closer, and the Big 12 tournament will help decide who moves on and who goes home.
"We said the tougher team, the team that fights the most, will win this game," Miller said. "There is no other option."
The Sun Devils were the tougher team in the win against the Cowgirls, which helped them get above .500 in the conference before the Baylor loss.
Coaching that toughness has been a big factor in why the Sun Devils have found success. Down the stretch, Miller looks to get the best out of her squad to make a run to March.
"All week, (Miller) was speaking life into us and keeping (us) positive," redshirt junior guard and forward Deborah Davenport said. "I think that really helped us a lot to win this game and bounce back from our loss."
Miller is still focused on controlling the little things as she knows those will carry the Sun Devils through shooting slumps or tough road stretches.
"You can control the defensive end, you can control communicating and talking, you can control getting on the floor for loose balls," Miller said. "You can control, go grabbing that thing out of the air. Every 50/50 ball is 100% ours."
Edited by Alan Deutschendorf, Jack McCarthy and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at mseal6@asu.edu and follow @masonseal23 on X.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on X.
Mason Seal is a reporter in the sports department. He provides intel and paints stories about many different sports for The State Press. He is in his third semester at The State Press.
