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Molly Miller Era for Sun Devil WBB Begins on Monday Night

GAME NOTES VS. COPPIN STATE Opens in a new window Fun Q&A with Coach Molly
Molly Miller Era for Sun Devil WBB Begins on Monday NightMolly Miller Era for Sun Devil WBB Begins on Monday Night
  • THE GAME: Sun Devil WBB (0-0) vs. Coppin State (0-0)
  • WHEN: Monday at 6:30 p.m. MST
  • WHERE: Desert Financial Arena • Tempe, Ariz.
  • WATCH: ESPN+
  • RADIO: KDUS AM 1060
  • LIVE STATS: Click here
  • TICKET INFORMATION: Click here

 

UP NEXT
The Sun Devil women’s basketball team opens the 2025-26 season on Monday night (6:30 pm MST) when it hosts Coppin State in what will be the debut of new Sun Devil head coach Molly Miller.

WATCH/LISTEN
Monday’s season opener can be seen on ESPN+/Alex Coil (play-by-play) and Kelly Burke (color analyst). The game can also be heard on KDUS AM 1060. Pregame coverage will start at 6 p.m. The state of Arizona’s 2010 & 2019 Broadcaster of the Year, Jeff Munn is in his 22nd season as the voice of ASU WBB. He will be joined by former Sun Devil head coach Maura McHugh.

 

MOLLY MILLER ERA BEGINS ON MONDAY NIGHT

  • On March 22, 2025, Molly Miller agreed to be the new head coach of Sun Devil Women’s Basketball.
  • ASU hired a proven winner in Miller who guided Grand Canyon University to a 32-3 record last season which included a 30-game winning streak and GCU’s first berth in the NCAA Women’s Tournament.
  • Miller went 117-38 (.760) at GCU and overall is 297-55 (.845) at the collegiate level. Her 297 career wins includes 180 in six seasons at her alma mater (Drury). Miller started her coaching career as an assistant coach at Drury where was a four-year letterwinner.
  • Miller oversaw GCU’s most successful stretch in program history. Over the last two seasons GCU won 84 percent of its games (56-11), including a school record 32 wins in 2024-25, a season that culminated with the Lopes earning their first NCAA Tournament berth. In addition to experiencing March Madness for the first time, GCU also captured both the WAC Tournament and regular season championships and set the conference record for consecutive wins (30).
  • The 2025 WAC COY, Miller was named the WBCA Division II Coach of the Year in 2019 and again in 2020.
  • Under Miller, Drury became the first Great Lakes Valley Conference program to win four consecutive titles and went 105-5 in conference play (55-0 at home) over her six-year tenure. Drury was ranked in the Division II top 25 for a nation-leading 111 consecutive weeks.
  • Upon becoming Drury’s head coach at age 28, Miller led her alma mater to the 2019 Division II Final Four. After a perfect 32-0 record in 2019-20 – when Drury was No. 1 every week in the Division II poll – the Panthers were denied a chance to return to the Final Four after the 2020 postseason was canceled due to Covid-19.
  • A native of Springfield, Mo., in June 2025, the Springfield, Missouri, News-Leader ranked Miller No. 4 among Springfield’s 25 most impactful coaches of the last 25 years.

DID YOU KNOW, AS A HEAD COACH MOLLY MILLER....?

  • Enters the 2025-26 campaign third in winning percentage among active coaches who have served at least five years as a Division I head coach. Miller (84.4 percent/297-55 career record in 11 seasons) trails only legendary coaches Geno Auriemma (88.3 percent/1,250-165 career record in 40 seasons) Kim Mulkey, (85.9 percent/754-124 in 25 seasons).
  • Needs three wins to reach 300 career wins.
  • Has won her last 30 non-NCAA Tournament games going back to last season.
  • Has won her last 23 home games going back to the 2023-24 season.
  • Is 11-0 in season openers: 6-0 at Drury and 5-0 at GCU.




SERIES NOTES VS. COPPIN STATE

  • Monday’s game will be the second all-time meeting between ASU and Coppin State. The Eagles were victorious in last’s season’s meeting 74-68 (OT) in Baltimore.

NEW FACES BRING LOTS OF EXPERIENCE

  • Of the 10 new players on this year’s roster, six players have played 50 or more games at the D1 level, including one student-athlete (Last-Tear Poa), who has played in 102 games.
  • Four of this year’s newcomers – Marley Washenitz (78), Acacia Hayes (75), Gabby Elliott (73), Jordan Jones (72) – have started more than 70 games at the D1 level.
  • Each of the returning Sun Devils who played last season – Makayla Moore (70 games/33 starts) and Jyah LoVett (48 games/38 starts) – also have a significant amount of experience. LoVett started 21 of 31 games as a Sun Devil in 2024-25, while Moore had five starts in the 21 games she played.

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

  • Heloisa Carrera represented Brazil at the 2023 FIBA Women’s Basketball U19 World Cup in Spain.
  • In August 2025, Martina Fantini helped Italy claim bronze at the FIBA U20 Women’s EuroBasket tournament.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

  • Gabby Elliott needs 19 points to reach 1,000 for her career. Last season at Penn State, Elliott had single-season career highs in 3-pointers (41), 3-point FG percentage (42.3) and free throw percentage (73.7), while tying her single-season career-high in points per game (13.6 ppg).
  • Acacia Hayes’ next 3-pointer will be the 100th of her career.
  • Four Sun Devils come into this season averaging double-figure career scoring averages: Jordan Jones (15.1 ppg), Elliott (12.1 ppg), Hayes (12.0 ppg) and returning guard Jyah LoVett (10.8 ppg). Jones’ 19.9 ppg as a junior at Denver last season, represents the highest single-season scoring average on ASU’s roster.
  • Other proven scorers at the NCAA DI level include returning guard Makayla Moore (averaged 11.6 as a sophomore at Seattle University) and McKinna Brackens (9.8 ppg last season at UNLV) and Marley Washenitz (9.3 ppg), who are both coming off their best seasons in points per game.
  • Timya Grice (6-5), Martina Fantini (6-3), Deborah Davenport (6-2) will not only be making their NCAA DI debuts this season, but they will also be brining size to this year’s team. Other new players who figure to do the same are Ole Miss transfer Heloisa Carrera (6-2), UNLV transfer McKinna Brackens (6-1) and Denver transfer Jordan Jones (6-0).

2025-26 NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE NOTES

  • Eight home games, including a pair of multi-team events, highlight the Sun Devil Women’s Basketball team’s 2025 non-conference schedule.
  • The eight home contests the Sun Devils play will take place within their first 10 games of the season. After the season opener vs. Coppin State, ASU will host Eastern Washington on Sat. Nov. 8. The Sun Devils will next play consecutive road games at San Diego (Thurs., Nov. 13) and at Santa Clara (Sun., Nov. 16). ASU’s contest vs. UNLV on Sat., Nov. 22, will be the first of six consecutive games played on its home turf. On Wed., Dec. 10, the Sun Devils will be in University Park, Pa., to face Penn State, the first of three straight road games they will play to close out the non-conference schedule.
  • ASU’s six-game homestand that starts vs. UNLV on Nov. 22 will include consecutive weekends in which the Sun Devils will host a pair of events in which they will play two games in as many days.
  • Over Thanksgiving weekend, the Sun Devils will take on Little Rock on Fri., Nov 28 and Southeast Missouri State on Sat., Nov. 29. The weekend will also include a pair of non-ASU games: San Diego vs. Little Rock (Nov. 28) and San Diego vs. Southeast Missouri State on Sun., Nov. 30.
  • The following weekend, ASU will host the annual Briann January Classic (Dec. 5-6), an event in which McNeese State, Nevada and San Francisco will also be participating.
  • ASU will play in the second game of both of the weekend’s doubleheaders which will be taking place at Mullett Arena, Sun Devil Athletics newest on-campus Multi-Purpose Arena. On Fri., Dec. 5, the Sun Devils will host McNeese State (preceded by Nevada vs. San Francisco) and the following day they will face San Francisco (preceded by McNeese State vs. Nevada).

BIG 12 SCHEDULE NOTES

  • When ASU hosts Colorado in its first Big 12 contest on Sun., Dec. 21, it will be the squad’s first home game since Sat., Dec. 6. Prior to the contest vs. Colorado will be road games at Penn State (Wed., Dec. 10), at Oregon State (Sun., Dec. 14), and at Gonzaga (Tues., Dec. 16).
  • After the conference opener against Colorado, ASU will have its longest gap of the season between games (10 days). The Sun Devils will resume Big 12 play with consecutive road games in the state of Utah (at Utah on Wed., Dec. 31 and at BYU on Sat., Jan. 3). Following a home contest vs. UCF (Wed., Jan. 7), ASU will play at TCU (Sun., Jan. 11), the third time in four games it will be on the road following the holiday break.
  • When ASU hosts Arizona on Wed., Jan. 28, it will be the first of three straight home games and four of five overall. Matchups vs. Kansas State (Sun., Feb. 1) and Oklahoma State (Wed., Dec. 4) at Desert Financial Arena will precede ASU’s only road game in the stretch, at Baylor on Sat. Feb. 7). The span will conclude with a rematch vs. Utah in Tempe (Wed., Feb. 11).
  • ASU’s game at West Virginia (Wed., Jan. 21) will be the second time the Sun Devils will be playing more than 2,000 miles away from home in 2025-26. The first instance will take place on Tues., Dec. 9 at Penn State, the first of three consecutive road games ASU will play on the road to conclude the non-conference portion of its schedule. After playing at West Virginia, ASU will play a second consecutive road game at Cincinnati (Sat, Jan. 24).

SUN DEVIL ATHLETICS COUNTS DOWN TO NCAA WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR

In October 2020, the NCAA officially named ASU, the city of Phoenix, and the Footprint Center as hosts for the Women’s Final Four Tournament, to be held April 3, 5, 2026.

In August 2025, Sun Devil Women’s Basketball’s head coach Molly Miller joined several key community members at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport to unveil the official Countdown Clock to the event.

Unveiled alongside Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallaego, 2026 Women’s Final Four Committee Jay Parry, and NCAA Vice President for Women’s Basketball Lynn Holzman, the clock is located at the busiest terminal in the airport, Terminal 4, on the west end of the baggage claim. The placement means it will see significant foot traffic to build maximum excitement.

Arizona State University had a significant presence at the event. ASU Athletic Director Graham Rossini, Sparky, and Senior Associate Athletics Director Christina Wombacher were on hand to help underscore the University’s role as a proud stakeholder in bringing the Women’s Final Four to the Valley for the first time.