McKinna Brackens Continues Ascent into Stardom

TEMPE -- The Arizona State women's basketball team continued what has been a historic start to the 2025-26 season with an anxiety-inducing 69-68 victory over the Utah Utes on Wednesday afternoon to move to 15-0 and 2-0 in Big 12 play.

The Sun Devils' 15-0 start has featured four quadrant two victories and has the team at number 40 in the NCAA NET rankings as of Thursday, which places them firmly within the NCAA tournament picture.

The tournament appearance would be the first since the 2018-19 season, and it wouldn't be within reach if head coach Molly Miller didn't add a talented forward in junior McKinna Brackens to the roster following her hiring in March of last year.

Miller had previously crossed paths with Brackens when the former's GCU Lopes squared off with the latter's UNLV Rebels in scrimmages - the union at Arizona State couldn't be going better for either party to this point.

Brackens Emerging as Leading Scorer, Rebounder

The Texas native has reached double-figure scoring numbers in 13 of 14 games that she has played this season - which has been accentuated with an 18-point performance against Colorado and a gutsy 31-point output against Utah, which also featured a pair of free-throw makes that won the game for the Sun Devils.

The skillset Brackens has is fairly unique for a forward, as the 6'1" talent possesses a nice shooting touch (42.3% from three-point range) despite putting forth relatively low volume in that department, while also displaying an impressive handle for a taller player. Perhaps the most conspicuous part of Brackens' game is her ability to get into the lane and utilize strength/athleticism/post skill to get to the free-throw line.

The combination of skill, versatility, and athleticism has put Brackens at the very top of the ASU leaderboard in points per game (15.9), while also leading in rebounds (7.6) - including a massive figure of over two offensive boards per contest.

wdwwqw — ASU Sun Devils forward McKinna Brackens (21) drives to the basket against the Coppin State Bald Eagles at Desert Financial Arena on Nov. 3, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There's a strong likelihood that Brackens returns for her senior year at the conclusion of this campaign as well, which would naturally make her the face behind the revitalization of Arizona State women's basketball.

Until then, the Sun Devils are continuing to pursue keeping their perfect season alive. The next opportunity to extend the spotless start to the season is on Saturday, when they conclude the second part of the Utah road trip against another quality Big 12 opponent in the Brigham Young Cougars.

dwdwwdqdwqd — ASU Sun Devils head coach Molly Miller yells out to her team as they play the Coppin State Bald Eagles at Desert Financial Arena on Nov. 3, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on why the bright future of the football program isn’t dimmed by the loss to Arizona here.

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