ASU's Molly Miller Remains Steadfast in Pursuing Consistent Program Culture

The Arizona State WBB program has undergone a drastic overhaul over the last 11 months.

Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Molly Miller watches from the bench during the fourth quarter against Iowa State in the Big-12 women’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 18, 2026, in Ames, Iowa | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

TEMPE -- Arizona State women's basketball head coach Molly Miller is a winner - this is a fact that has extended to three different programs to this point.

Miller secured the program record for most wins in year one with last Saturday's win over Arizona, although the Sun Devils followed up the triumph with a lopsided loss to Iowa State on the road on Wednesday night.

Miller joined a popular local radio show on Friday morning to reiterate many of the points that have been made over the last several months, including discussing the culture that has been installed since officially taking the job in March of last year.

"There's definitely a formula, but from the get go, you have to establish what that looks like, so you cannot cut corners. We did not take any shortcuts in our culture. We have culture checks daily. It's just a little blip in time where you check yourself. Really does this look like? What we want it to look like, from a body language standpoint, from an energy standpoint, from a prep standpoint. So all those things as you go and you're building, you have to be very strategic but very genuine."

Miller practiced what she preaches last offseason, as the veteran program-leader wasted no time in curating a roster that fit the vision that was held as far as how the 2025-26 team would look. The starting unit is veteran-laden and chalk-full of chippy players that don't mind diving for loose balls, or making other game-winning plays that don't necessarily show up in the box score.

Iowa State Cyclones' guard Kenzie Hare (12) puts high pressure on Arizona State Sun Devils guard Last-Tear Poa (13) during the fourth quarter in the Big-12 women’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on Feb. 18, 2026, in Ames, Iowa | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

That vision has placed the Sun Devils in a firm position to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2018-19 season, although more work must be done to actually reach that point.

Sun Devils Remain Alive for Tournament

Arizona State rose into the ranks of the 68-team field according to ESPN bracket expert Charlie Creme - actually serving as the "last team in" on Friday.

The Sun Devils possess a profile that is tournament-caliber, as they own several solid wins while only holding only one truly poor loss to their names. Ultimately, they need to do more work to solidify a spot in the field, with wins against Houston and BYU in the days ahead potentially being enough to get the job done.

Gabby Elliott, McKinna Brackens, and the rest of the Sun Devils take on Houston on Saturday afternoon at 2 P.M. MST in the penultimate home game of the season.

Read more on the bold strategy that head coach Bobby Hurley employed with comments on 1/21 here, and on why Arizona State may have saved the season with the win over Cincinnati on Saturday here..

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