TEMPE, Ariz. — It wasn’t long ago when fans would enter Desert Financial Arena and watch the Arizona State Sun Devils struggle against other programs in the Big 12 and Pac-12 conferences. Now, it’s the other way around.
On Wednesday night, ASU defeated the UCF Knights 68-45, a game in which the Sun Devils never trailed. The contest was defined by the Sun Devils’ fast pace and relentless pressure on the defensive end — core philosophies instilled by Molly Miller in her first season as ASU’s head coach.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Sun Devils forward McKinna Brackens said after recording a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double in the win. “Our defense turns into our offense, and I feel like we get hyped when we get defensive stops. We worked hard on that in the summer, and we’re conditioned for that, so it feels good to see all that hard work come into fruition.”
That approach has led to one of the most exciting stories in women’s college hoops this season, as Miller has transformed ASU’s record from 10-22 a season ago, to now 16-1 so far this season.
The win against UCF also gave the Sun Devils their third conference win of the season, a figure that already matches their total from all of last season — the program’s first in the Big 12 Conference.
“These games are awesome,” Miller said after beating UCF. “I just looked at some scores and some upsets today. It is ‘any given night’ in the Big 12. This game, or the last game, or the next one could have March implications.”
Returning to glory
While the Sun Devils are well-positioned to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2019-20 season, there’s still a sense of urgency to punch their ticket, despite their impressive record. ASU has yet to be ranked in either the AP or Coaches’ polls, mainly due to the fact that it has played just one Quad 1 game this season — a 69-68 win over Utah on New Year’s Eve.
The IX Basketball’s most recent bracketology has ASU slotted as a 10-seed, meaning its postseason spot is far from guaranteed as of right now.
“We always say, ‘play this game because it’s going to matter,’” Miller said. “When it boils down to it, the next one will matter. If this game was played on Feb. 28, we may be thinking like, ‘this is our in game, this is our out game, this is a better-seeding game.’ We have to have that mentality every single game in this league.”
But the fact ASU is in these conversations at all is eye-opening. After the retirement of longtime head coach Charli Turner Thorne, the Sun Devils went a combined 29-62 across the following three-season stretch.
Enter Miller, who was hired in March 2025 from just down the road at Grand Canyon, where she capped off a 117-38 tenure by leading the Lopes to their first Division I NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Even with nothing but success at every coaching stop in her career, Miller’s Sun Devils were picked by coaches to finish No. 11 out of 16 teams in the Big 12 before the season began.
What followed that preseason projection has been the emergence of a relentless, defense-first identity that has propelled ASU to national relevance. Miller’s Sun Devils don’t rely on hot shooting nights or star power alone, they hang their hat on effort, pressure and connectivity on the defensive end.
“We’re always going to be convicted to the defensive end, and that’s where we’re going to win ball games,” Miller said. “So we have to be bought in to that side of the ball. We’re also very connected on that side of the ball … We can control the defensive end, because it is pure effort, and this group knows that, and they’ve bought into it. So I feel pretty good about our defensive effort night in, night out.”
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That identity is being constructed by a roster that is as unconventional as it is effective. The team features a mixed bag of transfers and freshmen, alongside just two returners with significant experience from last season.
At the center of it all is senior guard Last-Tear Poa, the emotional heartbeat of the team, who brings championship experience from her days at LSU under Kim Mulkey. Supplying the most scoring is guard Gabby Elliott, who is in her sixth collegiate season across four different programs.
Other key players include sophomore forward Heloisa Carrera, a transfer from Mississippi who hails from Brazil and led the Sun Devils in scoring against UCF with 20 points; and fellow starting forward Brackens, a UNLV transfer Miller dubbed a “double-double machine.”
“They have multiple players who play 30-plus minutes,” UCF head coach Sytia Messer said. “Which is a commitment to the program and what [Miller] is doing in building this.”
Turning a loss into a lesson
ASU ripped off a 15-0 start to the season, the longest unbeaten streak to begin a season in program history, before suffering its first loss to BYU this past Saturday. Rather than linger on the defeat, the Sun Devils let it fuel them in their very next game.
“I knew we were going to win this game two days ago,” Miller said, “not because of records, not because of anything, but because the look in their eye and how they had focus. I knew we were ready. I felt good coming into this game because of them, not any other outside factor, but because of how they approached the days after the BYU game.”
The bounceback was based in more than just a vague feeling, it came from a tangible attention to detail that was reflected in the box score. In the loss to BYU, ASU shot just 37% from the field and was killed on the glass — being out-rebounded by a staggering 54 to 25.
Against UCF, the Sun Devils completely flipped the script, shooting 53% and out-rebounding the Knights 37 to 28. As they encountered their first major adversity of the season, Miller’s new squad showed extreme maturity in its ability to quickly learn from mistakes and adjust.
“I feel like we took some bad shots in the BYU game,” Brackens said. “We watched a lot of film the day after, and [associate head coach Jason Glover] was showing us where we were forcing things and where the open play was. So we wanted to make sure that we were making the right plays tonight and getting a great shot, not a good shot.”
Carrera added, “In that BYU game, we were outworked by rebounds, so being able to come here and work really hard and show that we’re the team that’s going to play defense and get turnovers is really good for us, because that’s our identity.”
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ASU’s rise has felt sustainable not just because of their scrappy style of play, but also how rapidly the new roster is learning to operate as a cohesive unit.
“I feel like we’ve learned a lot about each other,” Brackens said. “We were a whole new team … learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses and trying to put each other in the best situation to be successful.”
The road ahead
ASU cleared its first major hurdle, but the next test looms large: a road matchup against No. 13 TCU, the Big 12’s top-ranked team and perhaps the biggest measuring stick yet for Miller’s program. That game tips off on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.
“I mean, it’s a twofer, because it’s a challenge and an opportunity, and we’ll be ready,” Miller said of the upcoming match-up. “We’re going to go in there like, ‘we can win, and believe that we can win,’ and we’re going to do the things we need to do to win. We’ll be ready.”
The Big 12 slate only gets more grueling from there, with other top programs like Iowa State, Baylor and Texas Tech still ahead on ASU’s schedule. With postseason positioning on the line, every night carries weight.
Yet for a program that was an afterthought just a season ago, Miller and the Sun Devils have already changed the narrative. Now it’s time to see if the confidence they play with will place them among the nation’s best.