Arizona women’s basketball is hoping a good old-fashioned rivalry game will help snap its losing streak.
The Wildcats (10-9, 1-7 Big 12) travel to play ASU (17-4, 4-4) on Wednesday night after having dropped four in a row and looking for their first road win of the season. Arizona is 0-4 in road games, but the Sun Devils have lost two in a row.
“I love a good rivalry game, especially in a season where it's not going exactly the way that you want it," said UA head coach Becky Burke. "This game can do a lot for you as far as rejuvenation and feel good vibes and just going up the road and beating somebody that is an in-state rival. So I'm really excited for the opportunity, felt a little bit different in practice, felt a little bit different in film; I think we understand.”
Burke said she’s felt the rivalry since she first set foot on campus.
“I played at Louisville, it’s Kentucky/Louisville, you know, it's Arizona/Arizona State, it’s the same type of feel,” Burke said. “It's the same type of rivalry, there will be no love lost in this one I promise you that on either side, and so all records are out the window. It don't matter if we're undefeated and they haven't won a game or vice versa.”
Arizona guard Kamryn Kitchen (1), left, and guard Molly Ladwig (5) shout out some moral suppot during a Wildcat offensive possession against UCF in the fourth quarter, Jan. 10, 2026, in Tucson.
Added UA freshman guard Molly Ladwig: “A rivalry like this is awesome and I'm excited to experience it for the first time."
Although most of UA’s players and coaches are new to the UA/ASU rivalry, assistant coach/Director of Player Development Julie Hairgrove is the granddaughter of Lute Olson and played for the Wildcats after setting records at Catalina Foothills. Junior center Achol Magot went to Salpointe Catholic and Sunnyside, and redshirting freshman center Callie Hinder is from Chandler.
“You feel Julie's pride for this program every day … you’ve got Julie, you've got a Achol, you've got Callie,” Burke said. “We’ve got a lot of people in our circle that are very passionate about what this rivalry means. ... I’m always a competitor, the people that are the competitively natured people — even though they just got here — love a good little rivalry, love a good little reason to get a little more competitive and have a little bit more to play for and like I said, I don't think it'll be a problem for anybody to get up for this one.”
ASU started the season 15-0, breaking a 33-year-old record for best start in school history and tying their overall win streak standard. The Sun Devils returned twice as many players as UA did, though Arizona’s sole returnee from last year, junior forward Montaya Dew, hasn’t played this season.
In March ASU hired Grand Canyon head coach Molly Miller to lead the program. Miller then hired Stephanie Norman, associate head coach and director of basketball from Louisville. Norman was an assistant at Louisville when Burke played there.
“She has a few more returners and had a few more weeks in the portal — and I will say that makes a big difference — but I'm taking my team all day every day, so I wouldn't change a thing and they did a great job recruiting,” Burke said. “I think we did a good job recruiting and yeah, so we're in a similar situation, but not really.”
Homecoming for Ladwig
Ladwig returned to old Big 8 country on Saturday to have a career night.
The freshman is from Omaha, Neb., which is about a 2½ hour drive to Ames, Iowa, where Iowa State is located.
Arizona guard Molly Ladwig (5), bottom, and Cal State Bakersfield guard Morgan Hawkins (14) try to run down a loose ball during the second quarter, Nov. 29, 2025, at McKale Center.
At Skutt Catholic in Omaha, Ladwig led the Skyhawks to a state championship last year and is the school’s record holder for points (1,748) and assists (332). Current Skutt players made the trip to Ames to see Ladwig and posed for a photo with her.
“It was awesome, obviously, game closest to home for me,” Ladwig said. “Got a lot of my family out there, friends, so that's fun.
“Yeah, I have an opportunity to go out there again, be aggressive, got to show a little bit, it was really fun.”
Although she fouled out, Ladwig played a career-high 29 minutes in her third start and had career highs in points (10) and steals (2).
Ladwig and sophomore guard Kamryn Kitchen can help Arizona manage without injured leading scorer Mickayla Perdue.
“I saw Molly being aggressive against Iowa State; she's kind of been passive and letting the game come to her and trying to fit in, where I think against Iowa State, she was trying to make moves, that’s what we need from her,” Burke said. “That’s why she's here, that’s why I put her on the floor, I don’t put her on the floor to just be a body, right? Like she was putting it on the ground and she was attacking, creating, driving close outs, shooting when she was open.
Arizona head coach Becky Burke huddles her team with 33.1 second left in the second half against New Mexico at McKale Center, Dec. 7, 2025.
“That's all things that we need her to do, Kam can stretch it, shoot it a little bit,” she added. “I think collectively, it's not one person's job to film Micky's shoes, but for us to be able to space the floor and make some shots, that’s why Kam and Molly played a lot of minutes against Iowa State because we need two people that could do that and I thought they did it effectively.”
Welch expected to return
Burke said junior guard Tanyuel Welch’s injured ankle was looking good on Monday, and she believes the transfer from Memphis will be available for the ASU game.
Welch left Arizona’s 90-65 loss at Iowa State on Saturday, leaving the Wildcats with only four players after various foul-outs.
Burke said Welch is dealing with pain and swelling due to the ankle sprain.
“Just around the clock treatment, was looking good (Monday) and I think she'll be ready to go, but if not we'll be ready, as well,” Burke said.
