ASU Women’s Basketball team earns NCAA Tournament berth in Molly Miller's first season

Since 1982, no program with 24 wins has been left out of the NCAA Women’s basketball tournament, Molly Miller said at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. Just days later, the first-year head coach sat among her team as Arizona State (24-11, 9-9 Big 12) waited until the final moment of the bracket reveal to hear the news. ​

For the first time since 2019, the Sun Devils are going dancing. ​

“A long wait, but a wait that was worth it,” Miller said Sunday night at the team’s watch party, after her team was the last one to be announced in the field. “I’m happiest for our kids. They took a chance on a vision, and they decided to hop on board, and I couldn’t be more grateful they chose Arizona State.”

No.10 ASU will face No.10 Virginia (19-11, 11-7 ACC) on Thursday at 6 pm. MST in Iowa City as part of the Sacramento Regional, and the contest will air on ESPN2. The winner will go on to face No. 7 Georgia on Saturday. This region includes teams such as the Big 12 regular-season champion No. 3 TCU and No. 1 South Carolina.

Miller’s Sun Devils sat on the bubble in the eyes of national media due to their relatively weak non-conference schedule. Despite finishing with the fifth-most wins in the Big 12 standings, they dropped to 10th by the regular-season’s end due to a .500 conference record.

Against quadrant 1 opponents, ASU finished just 1-6 on the season, but 23-4 in games against opponents in every other quadrant, including 12-0 against quad four opposition. That narrative, however, was especially interesting since every other team in the Big 12 except Kansas State played at least 10 games against quad four teams.

What stamped the maroon and gold’s ticket to the big dance was an exciting showing in the Big 12 tournament, in which two wins over Arizona and Iowa State got them to the tournament’s quarterfinals. ASU would lose in an exciting contest against West Virginia, the program that went on to win the tournament outright.

“If there was a doubt that week, put the doubts to rest,” Arizona State Athletic Director Graham Rossini commented. “I give Coach Miller a lot of credit. I think his press conference after West Virginia lost had a big effect on the bidding outcomes. You saw a lot of the national narrative turn last week, from going from more of a bubble team to, Where are they gonna go in the tournament?”

Regardless of how it happened, Miller’s Sun Devils accomplished uncharted territory in the post-Charli Turner-Thorne era, making the NCAA for just the first time this century under a coach besides Turner-Thorne. Miller brought in an overhauled roster after making a short journey from ASU’s cross-town rival, Grand Canyon University.

The program had won just 29 games over the previous three seasons under Natasha Adair, but Miller, building from the ground up, established a defensive culture, repropelling the Sun Devils to the fifth-best defense in the Big 12, allowing just 60.7 points per game.​

Miller will be coaching in the tournament for a second consecutive season, at GCU, the Lopes finished 32-3, winning both the Mountain West Regular season and Conference tournament Championships.

“Definitely one of my favorite seasons with one of my favorite groups in terms of buy-ins,” Miller added. “We were all very much strangers to start this journey, and now we’re family. The family gets to make its mark in history, the family gets to keep competing.”​

The Cavaliers will be a formidable test for ASU, despite a three-game losing streak; their high-powered offense, which averaged 75.3 points per game, ranks 39th in the nation.

“The prep is very, very important,” Miller remarked. “You haven’t watched this team (Virginia) during the year, so the prep is very important.”

ASU is currently a 2.5-point underdog on Sunday, and with an apparent stylistic clash between a stern defense and an explosive offense, something will have to give. Regardless, Miller’s Sun Devils accomplished history in her first season at the helm, marking the start of an exciting future for women’s hoops in Tempe.

“What’s going through my mind is that I need to do a scout on Virginia,” Miller said. “I’m a faithful person, so I know there’s a path that’s meant to be. I’m meant to be here now. I’m meant to be with this team, and clearly they’re meant to go dancing.

“I really like the energy that we’re carrying into this week, so I’m excited for what practice looks like tomorrow.”