Arizona State women’s basketball needed a bounce-back game after suffering its first loss and forwards Heloisa Carrera and McKinna Brackens provided the spark against UCF.
Brackens recorded a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Carrera led the team with 20 points as the Sun Devils (16-1, 3-1 Big 12) won 68-45 at Desert Financial Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 7.
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ASU’s offense relied heavily on Carrera in the first quarter, with half of the first six shots coming from her. However, Carrera struggled to solidify herself as a top option when she began missing easy shots throughout the first half.
“She had some stick-to-it-ness in the second half,” coach Molly Miller said. “She ended up with 20, and you would’ve thought, Did she have that good of a game? And yeah, she played well in the second half… I’ve got to credit this team that they’ve got a quick flip in their mind.”
With guards Marley Washenitz and Gabby Elliott limited by foul trouble and UCF’s smaller lineup, ASU had to take advantage with Carrera and Brackens in the post.
The two found a lot of great shot selection and worked well with guard Last-Tear Poa, who had six assists and eight rebounds.
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During Carrera’s 11-point third quarter, Poa grabbed a defensive rebound and ran down the court to find Carrera at the post for a 41-27 lead. Poa’s impact stemmed from a 45-minute film session with Miller following her performance at BYU, where she had three points, one rebound and three turnovers.
“She pushed the pace for us,” Miller said. “She was intense on defense and I thought she was locked in. She was really a catalyst for what we did in transition.”
ASU Sun Devils forward Heloisa Carrera (14) shoots the ball over Coppin State Bald Eagles forward Shanaii Gamble (25) at Desert Financial Arena on Nov. 3, 2025.
ASU’s playing style has largely hinged on scoring off a team’s mistakes, but the Sun Devils only scored 12 points off UCF’s (8-7, 0-4) 18 turnovers. However, ASU scored 24 points off the fast break, while limiting the Knights to four points. The Sun Devils also produced 40 points in the paint.
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The Sun Devils greatly outrebounded UCF with a 37-28 edge, and limited them to just two second-chance points.
ASU didn’t want to make the same mistakes with its rebounding against UCF that cost them against BYU. BYU’s aggressiveness on the boards exposed ASU, leading to a 54-25 edge.
“We worked really hard on that. We had a lot of rebounding drills and it was fun but it was not fun at the same time,” Carrera said. “We were really focused on that because we can never get outworked ever again.”
ASU will have its toughest test yet in the Big 12 on Sunday, Jan. 11, with the Sun Devils hitting the road to face No. 13 TCU at 3 p.m.
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Reach the reporter at jenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com, as well as @jennarortiz on X.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU women’s basketball flipped a switch to beat UCF
