Arizona State Starts the New Season on a High Note

TEMPE- Year two of the Molly Miller era has begun on a high note at Desert Financial Arena on Monday.

The Arizona State Sun Devils blew out the Jackson State Tigers to take home the victory in front of the home crowd with a final score of 84-41.

Among the five returning players from last season, forwards McKinna Brackens, Heloisa Carrera, and Deborah Davenport have each scored in double figures, making significant impacts on both offense and defense.

Carrera narrowly missed her first double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points, nine rebounds, and two steals on 7-of-9 shooting.

After the game, she expressed how much she has missed performing in front of the Sun Devils’ home crowd.

"I was really excited for the first game," Carrera said. "I woke up, and I was like, 'Oh my God, it's game day!' Just being able to be here [Desert Financial Arena] again and show you guys that we worked really hard during the off-season. It's gonna be an amazing season."

One of the bright spots from the Sun Devils' blowout win is freshman guard Averie Lower's stellar night on the offensive end.

In nearly 26 minutes of action, she recorded 15 points and five rebounds while making five three-pointers, looking confident in her first collegiate game of her career.

"It was super exciting to be able to start this game early on in the game," Lower said.

"You know, some of my shots weren't falling, but I knew my coaches, my teammates, and myself had confidence that the next few were going to go in," Lower said. "So I think that's helped me along the way."

During her standout high school career in Iowa, Lower established herself as one of the nation’s premier shooters before committing to Arizona State last fall. She finished with 335 3-pointers made, which is third all-time in Iowa, while shooting 44 percent from the three-point line.

Head coach Molly Miller values the confidence and long-range shooting ability that Lower brings to the program.

"We recruited her for a reason," Miller said of Lower. "I think she said it best. Shooters are going to shoot, and we encourage her to shoot. What's great about Averie is she missed the first three, I believe, but she's got that shooter's next-shot mentality, and I've always told her I don't care how many minutes in a row; if it's three in a row, I think the fourth's going in.

"You have that belief in her. She's got that belief in herself. What's typical when you go from high school to college is the game speeds up, and your shot-trigger speeds up. She's got a quick trigger from the get-go, so she's able to transition from high school to college pretty easily with that quick release."

Throughout the first few minutes in the first quarter, the Tigers opened up an 11-2 lead over the Sun Devils.

Since then, Arizona State outscored Jackson State 82-30 as newcomers continued to get comfortable in Miller's coaching system.

When asked about the message Carrera has given to the new members of the Sun Devils, she put an emphasis on getting stops on the defensive end and "lock in to do our job," which they have done in the second half.

"When you have players that return and know what the atmosphere is like, know what the expectation is like, (and) how we want to play," Miller said. "I mean, this was good as a first win, but it was so much more than that. It was how we want to come out and set the tone every single day we step on the court. ... We've got a lot of weapons out there, and that's fun to see. It felt like we had to manufacture a lot last year, and this year we're kind of letting them play a little bit more in the open court."

Arizona State has won in the following categories: rebounds (51-29), assists (26-12), points in the paint (38-12), steals (12-8), and bench points (22-6).

When Miller learned the Sun Devils had 51 rebounds, she shouted in joy, telling reporters, "Thank goodness! Rebounding was our thing."

Last season, Miller emphasized defending, rebounding, and turning defense into offense, in which she was pleased to see in the first game of the season and expects Arizona State to continue elevating on those as the season goes on.

From the final buzzer of the 2025–26 season in the NCAA Women's First Four to the first game of the new year, Carrera has witnessed the progress made by coach Miller and her staff—from the recruiting period through summer practices.

"It's really good because I knew and I saw it from the beginning of summer and now everyone has improved a lot," Carrera said. "So seeing that we can do amazing things together when we execute, when we play defense, when we get stops, it's something that's going to be really good for the season."

The Arizona State Sun Devils will return to Desert Financial Arena on Thursday, welcoming the NAU Lumberjacks at home.