Arizona State's Marley Washenitz Talks Team Growth, Kansas Matchup

The Sun Devil guard continues to reflect on the loss to TCU, but is also is focused on a major battle with Kansas on Saturday.

Arizona State Sun Devils Marley Washenitz (11) jumps to shoot the ball during a game against the Eastern Washington Eagles at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, on Nov. 8, 2025. | Diannie Chavez/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

TEMPE -- Arizona State guard Marley Washenitz spoke with media following Thursday's practice in anticipation for the 16-2 Sun Devils' home battle with the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday.

To watch the full availability, view below.

Below is a partial transcript from Washenitz in the exchange following practice.

"I mean, yeah, you play great players in and out every night, especially in Big 12. So past couple years I played her when she was at Notre Dame, so I was very familiar with her myself, as well as Suarez. So I mean, they have a great team and have great players top to bottom, but at the end of the day, it's team sport, and yes, you can have one all star on the team, but it's the whole team that's going to win and beat you.

And so that's kind of what happened to us with TCU, and we're just ready to get back to who we are, because we felt defensively, that we were letting them kind of get whatever they wanted. And that's not the style that we have here. That we have here with our defensive especially with Coach Molly. So just ready to get back and show everybody the brand of Sun Devil basketball."

Olivia Miles is one of the elite players in the Big 12 conference and was certainly going to present issues for the Sun Devils, although this trend will continue in the league moving forward, with other starts such as Iowa State's Audi Crooks on the horizon.

ASU Sun Devils head coach Molly Miller yells out to her team as they play the Coppin State Bald Eagles at Desert Financial Arena on Nov. 3, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Moving Past TCU Loss

"What do you have to do is you have to flush it and look forward and see how you can learn and grow from that game. And that's something we're going to do. You know, we watched some film on it. We saw the areas we can improve on, and we're definitely going to harp on those.

And these practices haven't necessarily been more of a test for us, and just really honing in on the details and things that we saw in that game and to make sure that we don't repeat it, because at the end of the day, if we repeat it, we're gonna find ourselves in that same position, and that's never what we want to do."

The Sun Devils lost the game by a score of 77-48 on Sunday, although the team as a whole still feels as if they are closer to competing with the best of the best compared to what the final score said.

On McKinna Brackens' Contributions to Program

"Yeah, I mean, just who she is as a person, she's continuous. Her energy is really infectious, and she's just a really fun person to be around. So when you lose sight of, you know, having fun with basketball, sometimes it tends to become more anxious style, and you're on your heels and you're playing a little bit more intense. So when you have people like her who are just having fun with it, it kind of, you know, like I mentioned, is infectious, and then everyone starts to have fun with it..."

Brackens is second on the team in scoring and paces in rebounding - the junior is also frequently praised as a legitimate leader throughout the program.

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on why the bright future of the football program isn’t dimmed by the loss to Arizona here.

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