TEMPE — If the first meeting is any indication, the newest chapter of the Territorial Cup rivalry will be riveting.
The Arizona and Arizona State women’s basketball teams, both guided by first-year coaches, duked it out for 40 minutes Wednesday night at Desert Financial Arena. The largest crowd to ever witness a UA-ASU game in Tempe — 6,121 — saw the Sun Devils pull away in the final two minutes for a 68-61 victory that snapped the Wildcats’ seven-game winning streak in the series.
The contest featured wild swings, physical play, countless players diving on the floor and both coaches — Arizona’s Becky Burke and ASU’s Molly Miller — turning to their fans to further fire them up.
“That’s what you want a rivalry game to feel like,” Burke said after her first taste of the Territorial Cup. “You want it to be punches thrown back and forth. You want it to be right hook, left hook. And that’s exactly what that was. I know we’re really excited for the opportunity to have them in a couple weeks down in Tucson.”
Arizona coach Becky Burke reacts during action against Arizona State on Jan. 28, 2026, at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.
That was one of the closing messages in the postgame locker room — Round 2 is just around the corner. Arizona (10-10, 1-8 Big 12) hosts ASU (18-4, 5-4) on Feb. 14.
You keep track of such things in rivalry series. Miller even knew how many days it had been since the Sun Devils last beat the Wildcats — 1,448.
“It was just a gutsy game,” Miller said. “You throw records out the window. You throw everything, home and away, out the window. (This) was going to be a game of momentum.
“When they hit theirs, I'm glad we responded. We could have easily crumbled. ... We came and swung back. Proud of the resilience. Proud of the back-and-forth fight.”
Down 33-26 at halftime, Arizona opened the third quarter with a 13-0 run. Noelani Cornfield’s jumper gave the Wildcats their largest lead, 43-35, with 4:08 left in the period.
In the midst of that run, the large contingent of Wildcat fans — including two busloads from Tucson — began a “U of A!” chant. It was quickly drowned out by Sun Devil fans bellowing “ASU!”
Arizona State coach Molly Miller reacts during action against Arizona on Jan. 28, 2026, at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.
The Sun Devils responded with a 10-2 run and took a 50-49 lead into the fourth quarter.
ASU gained separation midway through the fourth, bumping its advantage to 60-55. Arizona answered with layups by Cornfield (19 points) and Kamryn Kitchen (14) to make it a one-point game with 2:41 remaining.
Daniah Trammell’s layup made it 62-61 with 2:13 to play. Arizona failed to score from that point forward, and ASU put the game away from the foul line.
Up to that point, it had been a game of adjustments. Arizona had 14 turnovers in the first half but just six in the second after changing the way it handled ASU’s full-court press. The Sun Devils had trouble at times when the Wildcats trapped ball-handlers in pick-and-roll actions before solving that problem.
Burke and Miller displayed their coaching acumen while also barking at the officials and motivating their players.
“We’re both a little fiery, huh? I think that’s a good thing. The player comes out in you,” Miller said.
ASU guard Amaya Williams (1) lands in the crowd as Arizona guard Sumayah Sugapong (3) reacts on Jan. 28, 2026, at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.
“If you can't affect it directly on the court, you just pour into your players with passion and energy and competitiveness.
“Becky's gonna do great things. She's doing great things. I really admire what she's done with her program. I think they're one of the hardest-playing teams in the Big 12.”
Despite the outcome, Burke was pleased with her team’s fight. Arizona had a real chance to pull off the upset without leading scorer Mickayla Perdue, who is out indefinitely with a wrist injury, and top on-ball defender Tanyuel Welch, who dressed but didn’t play after spraining an ankle on Saturday at Iowa State.
Burke wasn’t quite as impressed with the size of the crowd.
“I’m happy for them,” she said. “We play in that environment every night.”
Lineup changes
With Welch still on the mend, Burke rolled with yet another lineup combination.
Kitchen got her first career start and played all but the final 29 seconds, when she fouled out. The redshirt freshman scored in double figures for the second time in three games, knocking down 3 of 6 attempts from 3-point range.
ASU forward McKinna Brackens (21) is pressured by Arizona guard Mireia Jurado (8) on Jan. 28, 2026, at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.
True freshman wing Mireia Jurado started and played 30 minutes after playing a reduced role the previous three games (21 total minutes). She had five points and six rebounds.
“Tany was good to go but didn't get a great week of prep,” Burke said. “I just didn't feel good about throwing her out there and testing it out. She could have (played), but it just wasn't in the best interest of our team.
“MJ’s number (was) called. When people's numbers are called on this team, we're ready.”
Rim shots
– Cornfield’s 19 points came on 7-of-9 shooting. She has shot 65.2% from the field the past two games after making just 27.1% of her shots in the first seven Big 12 contests.
– Sumayah Sugapong was the third Wildcat in double figures, scoring 10 points before fouling out with seven minutes to play. It was the third time in Big 12 play and the fourth time overall that Sugapong has fouled out.
– Arizona held ASU to 39% shooting — the lowest figure by a Big 12 foe since Utah on Dec. 22 (39.4%). ASU made up for it at the foul line, sinking 19 of 21 free throws (90.5%). The Wildcats were 13 of 18 (72.2%) at the stripe.
ASU guard Gabby Elliott looks to the basket against Arizona guard Noelani Cornfield (4) on Jan. 28, 2026, at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.
– Cornfield on Arizona’s third-quarter run — and what eventually ended it: “We just had energy. We were in (a) flow state. We were crashing on defense. We were active, getting the ball out, pushing the ball. But fouls stop momentum.”
– Something was lost in translation when it came to announcing Arizona’s starting lineup. The PA announcer introduced Welch as a starter instead of Nora Francois, who was left hanging on the bench.
– Miller finished her postgame interview by declaring that the win had earned ASU a Territorial Cup point. A school media-relations staffer corrected her, noting that the Sun Devils had to win the rematch to get the full point. “Well, speak it into existence,” Miller said.
– The Wildcats have lost five in a row and are winless (0-5) on the road. They host Oklahoma State on Sunday.
