Molly Miller Speaks to Media Ahead of Massive Kansas Matchup
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TEMPE -- Arizona State women's head basketball coach Molly Miller spoke to media following Thursday's practice - in anticipation for a huge home battle against the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday afternoon.
To watch the full availability, view below.
Below is a partial transcript from the exchange, with key context added
On Battling Against Elite Competition
"That's not our brand, and that's not our identity. So going back, you wish a few of those point blank layouts would have fallen and it looks like it's 10 point game there in the fourth quarter. So that's something that you can't always control, putting the ball in the basket, but it's something you can learn for and understand we can't have wasted possessions.
This team cannot have wasted possessions against ranked opponents. And we had about 10 to 12 wasted possessions where it was just and we had more wasted possessions before you could just get a score up. So it was good to see that. I think they understood the marginal error is slim in this league."
Arizona State isn't phased by the near 30 point loss to TCU on Sunday - now, they are looking to rebound against Kansas on Saturday afternoon.
On Upcoming Kansas Matchup
"I mean, they're probably the best one-to-five team in a conference in the country. They've played a really tough schedule, opponents on the road. They played the top half of the conference. So we can't look at that record and think this is very good. They've got one of the best guards in the country. We've got to really lock in the post player, who's a freshman Davis, is a really good player for them, and then they've got some shooters around them, so they do everything well... So we got to be ready to mix it up and stay true to our goals, but we've got a very good basketball team coming here."
The Jayhawks sit at 11-7 - which Miller believes is a misleading record. The two catalysts of the team are forward Jaliya Davis, who averages over 21 points per game, and guard S'Mya Nichols, who averages north of 19 points per contest.
Arizona State is seeking to move to 17-2 on the season on Saturday afternoon against a deceptively quality team - the game is set to tip at approximately 2 P.M. MST from Tempe and is set to be broadcast on ESPN+.
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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Kevin Hicks is an Arizona State alumni and now serves as the Arizona State Beat Writer On SI.