Seven straight losses to Arizona and the Molly Miller effect are fueling anticipation for the women’s basketball matchup between state rivals at Desert Financial Arena on Wednesday night.
On Monday, just two days before the big game, Arizona State coach Miller received a text from Sun Devils Deputy Athletics Director Lisa Young during her weekly radio show.
Young wrote, “This is the most tickets that have been claimed so far in the Arizona-Arizona State women’s basketball rivalry game.”
“That’s why rivalry games are so good,” Miller said. “It generates interest. So my expectation is rowdy and lots of Sun Devils in the building pulling for the team.”
In Tempe, the anticipation for the rivalry game’s return to Desert Financial Arena extends to the players.
Gabby Elliott, a graduate-transfer guard from Penn State, noted how the Territorial Cup hype feels different than anything she experienced in State College, Pennsylvania.
“The biggest thing for us in Tempe is how bad the fans want it and how it’s not just about us,” Elliott said. “This is my first year experiencing a rivalry, but I have people coming up to me telling me … what it feels like and what it would mean to them to see us get the win.”
Another reason the matchup might seem bigger than years previous is the pent up frustration Arizona State fans feel. The Sun Devils have lost to the Wildcats seven straight times and have not defeated Arizona since Feb. 11, 2022.
For the Sun Devils, there is some history that favors the Maroon and Gold in this matchup. Like ASU, Arizona has a new head coach this season as Becky Burke will make her state rivalry debut.
In the history of this matchup, which stretches all the way back to the 1975 season, ASU is 13-2 in the series against first-year Wildcats head coaches. This is the first season since 1987-88 –and only the second time in the history of the rivalry – that both schools have first-year head coaches squaring off in the game.
ASU’s Maura McHugh and Arizona’s June Olkowski entered their first years as head coaches in the 1987-88 season. In the Territorial Cup series that year, Arizona State and McHugh won both meetings.
For Miller, taking on Arizona and schools from Arizona is nothing new. In the 2024 season while Miller was coach at Grand Canyon University, she defeated both Arizona and ASU en route to a 32-3 record.
Over the course of Miller’s career at Grand Canyon (2020-2025), she went 3-1 combined against Arizona and Arizona State and went a decimating 13-2 against schools from Arizona in non-exhibition games.
Arizona State (17-4) looks to rebound against Arizona (10-9) after suffering back-to-back losses against No.22 West Virginia and Cincinnati – the first time ASU has lost consecutive games this season.
The loss against Cincinnati was a tough setback for the Sun Devils as they fell despite leading by as much as 18 points. The disappointing nature of that loss frustrated the team, but Miller points to the road ahead as a chance to improve the team’s mindset.
“There’s some long faces in that locker room,” Miller said. “I don’t think it’s reinventing the wheel because nobody’s out of our league right now. Every single game, we’re going to be able to compete in moving forward.”
Elliott agrees with that sentiment as the Sun Devils focus on the upcoming task, rather than past shortcomings.
“Of course you’ve got to look at your mistakes, but you can’t dwell on them,” Elliott said. “That’s one thing that we’re not doing and focus on as a team – just really moving forward.”
Tipoff between Arizona State and Arizona is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Desert Financial Arena in the first of two in-season meetings between the bitter in-state rivals.
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