Arizona

Arizona women’s basketball adds transfer center Nora Francois, announces Julie Hairgrove as assistant coach

Published

8 months ago

April 19, 2025

Arizona women’s basketball adds transfer center Nora Francois, announces Julie Hairgrove as assistant coach

The news keeps coming for Arizona women’s basketball. New head coach Becky Burke got a late start compared to most of her competitors around the country, but she’s making up for lost time. Arizona picked up its second public commitment from a post player and officially announced the hiring of former Wildcat Julie Hairgrove as an assistant coach on Friday.

The second commit of the day came from former New Orleans center Nora Francois. The 6-foot-2 post will be playing her fifth season. She spent her freshman season at North Iowa Area Community College, making her eligible for the NCAA waiver that allows former junior college, NAIA, DII, and DIII players to compete next season.

Francois was a double-digit producer for the Privateers last year. She scored 15 points per game on volume shooting. Her 13.5 field goal attempts per game were in the 96th percentile of DI women’s basketball.

Despite being listed as a center, Francois took 4.2 of those attempts from beyond the arc where she shot 24.8 percent. Her 101 3PA were the most on her team, coming in at almost twice as many as anyone else. She hit 43.3 percent of her 2-point shots.

The big was effective on the boards last season. She averaged nearly a double-double with 8.2 rebounds per game to go with her 15.0 points. She also contributed 1.5 assists against 2.5 turnovers, 1.8 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game.

Francois was whistled for 3.0 personal fouls per outing, but that only comes to 3.9 per 40 minutes because she was on the floor so much during the 2024-25 season. Her fouls per 40 minutes have dropped each season she spent in Division I.

Francois faced several Power 4 teams during her senior year. She opened the season against Alabama with a 3-for-9 night. She scored 10 points and grabbed nine boards.

Her next game was against TCU. She struggled, fouling out in 11 minutes of play with just two points and two rebounds.

Francois had stronger games against two other Big 12 teams. She pulled off the double-double against Texas Tech with 10 points and 17 rebounds. She went off against Baylor, going 10 for 20 from the field and 4 for 5 from 3. She scored a season high 26 points against the Bears.

Joining the Francois in the news was former Wildcat Hairgrove. Hairgrove’s hiring was made official on Friday. News of her addition to the staff leaked on Thursday, bringing part of Arizona’s past into the new era.

Hairgrove (née Brase) played for former Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini from 1998-2003. She redshirted her true junior season due to an injury. She was the team captain for two years. The program went to the tournament three times during her time on campus.

After college, Hairgrove coached at Loyola Marymount for two years. The program won the WCC title in 2004.

In 2005, Hairgrove took a job as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Mercury. She became the longest-tenured assistant coach in the WNBA, spending 17 years with the Mercury under five different head coaches. She helped coach Phoenix to all three of its league championships before leaving the organization in 2022.

Hairgrove joins former Buffalo assistant coach James Ewing as two of Burke’s Arizona assistants. The new staff also includes the first general manager in the program’s history. Michelle Marciniak was announced as the new hire for that position on Thursday.

The staff page for Arizona women’s basketball currently lists Burke, director of basketball operations Lauren Flaum, director of recruiting operations Ryan Thorne, and associate athletic trainer Bart Jameson.

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Related Topics:adds announces arizona as assistant Basketball center coach desert Featured francois front page hairgrove julie nora recruiting s swarm Transfer women

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Arizona

5 big Powerball lotto prizes won across Arizona days before Christmas

Published

3 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

5 big Powerball lotto prizes won across Arizona days before Christmas

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Five more lucky lotto players are heading into the holidays with a little extra cash in their pockets.

According to state lottery officials, the big winning tickets were sold around Arizona, each worth $50,000.

The tickets were sold at:

Goldfield Chevron
- 3265 S. Goldfield Rd, Apache Junction, AZ
Circle K
- 2088 W. Orange Grove Rd, Tucson, AZ
QuikTrip
- 918 E. Baseline Rd, Tempe, AZ
Desert Springs Travel Center
- 4031 Fleet St., Littlefield, AZ
Terrible’s
- 19985 N. Hwy 93, White Hills, AZ

The winning numbers from Monday’s drawing were 3, 18, 36, 41, 54 and Powerball 7. Nine $1 million tickets were sold nationwide.

The jackpot remains unclaimed and is estimated at $1.7 billion — the fourth largest ever — with the next drawing set for Christmas Eve.

Powerball tickets cost $2 per play, with odds of winning the jackpot sitting at 1 in 292.2 million, according to the lottery.

More information on games and prizes can be found on the Arizona Lottery website.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

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Arizona

No. 1 Arizona wraps up Bethune Cookman 107-71

Published

15 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

No. 1 Arizona wraps up Bethune Cookman 107-71

Arizona wrapped up their pre-Christmas schedule with a nice bow in the form of a 36 point victory over Bethune Cookman. Seven players scored double figures as Brayden Burries lead the game with 20 points. Partway through the first half Mabil Mawut was ejected from the game while on the bench, a rare occurrence under the Tommy Lloyd led team. Arizona will take Christmas off with practice resuming on the 26th and their next game at home on the 29th.

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Arizona

Will Arizona see a white Christmas? What the holiday forecast says

Published

1 day ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

Will Arizona see a white Christmas? What the holiday forecast says

After a week of persistent warm weather, a storm system is expected to bring rain, not snow, to Arizona for Christmas.
Flagstaff and other high-country areas are also too warm for Christmas snow, with precipitation expected to be mostly rain.
The same weather pattern is bringing heavy rain and potential flooding to Southern California and parts of the Northwest.

Arizonans dreaming of a white Christmas will likely have to settle for rain this year as warm temperatures persist.

A storm system off the West Coast is expected to funnel moisture into the state later this week, giving much of Arizona chances for rain around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The unsettled pattern could bring measurable rainfall, but temperatures are expected to stay too warm for snow, even in the high country. Arizona won’t get the soaking Southern California is expecting from incoming atmospheric rivers slamming the coast, but that same system will push moisture into the Southwest.

“Unfortunately, no white Christmas. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” said Ted Whittock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix.

In Phoenix, rain chances as temperatures cool from record highs

In Phoenix and the lower deserts, Christmas week will start off unusually warm before gradually cooling as rain chances increase.

Phoenix could break a daily temperature record for the second day in a row on Monday, Dec. 22. The current record is 79 degrees, with a forecast high of 82. A high of 81 degrees on Sunday, Dec. 21, broke the daily record for the third time this month.

But the weather should shift as a low-pressure system moves in from the Pacific.

“We’ll see a strong low-pressure system move in just off the West Coast and bring plenty of moisture into the region starting tomorrow,” Whittock said. “As a result, we’re going to see periodic rain chances this week.”

Forecasters say there will be two main windows for rain: late Tuesday into early Wednesday and again from Christmas Eve into Christmas Day.

Temperatures will start to trend downward midweek, with highs potentially dropping into the 60s and low 70s by the weekend.

Rainfall totals in the Valley could add up to around a half-inch or more in spots.

In Flagstaff, mostly rain early with uncertain snow chances later

Up north, Flagstaff will also see an unsettled and warmer-than-normal Christmas week. But snow lovers may be disappointed.

“It’s very warm for this time of year compared to what it usually is in December, so we’re expecting this week’s events to mainly be rain instead of snow,” said Jacob Lewandowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Flagstaff.

The first chance of rain in the forecast is Tuesday, Dec. 23 in the evening. Snow levels are expected to stay high through midweek, generally between 9,000 and 10,000 feet. That puts Flagstaff below the snow line during the initial rounds of precipitation.

Chances for snow could increase later in the week as cooler air moves in, but confidence drops significantly after Wednesday.

“The chances for snow start increasing by Thursday and Friday, but it’s still a lot of uncertainty with it,” said Lewandowski. “It’s just how warm it is through the week and whether it’s going to be all rain or a little bit of snow mixed in. Most likely not a white Christmas, though. It’s too warm.”

Atmospheric rivers hit the West Coast as much of the U.S. stays warm

The storm system affecting Arizona is part of a broader pattern impacting much of the western United States. Atmospheric rivers, or long plumes of moisture from the Pacific, are expected to bring heavy rain to parts of coastal California this week.

“The atmospheric rivers are going to impact Southern Calfironia, particularly on Wednesday,” Whittock said. “This is an especially impactful system for people that are traveling to and from Southern California, especially coastal areas.”

Forecasts from the National Weather Service in Los Angeles show an extended period of heavy rain expected from Tuesday through Saturday, with 4 to 8 inches of rain likely across coastal and valley areas. Prolonged rainfall could lead to flooding and debris flow concerns, especially in burn scar areas.

Unusual weather isn’t limited to just the West. Much of the United States will have a warmer than normal holiday, with some areas experiencing their warmest Christmases on record.

A northward shift in the jet stream over the middle of the country is allowing warmer air to spread east, causing above-normal temperatures. From the Rockies to parts of the Appalachians, temperatures could reach 15 to 30 degrees above average for Christmas Day.

So whether it’s rainy or warm, much of the country will miss out on a snow globe Christmas this year. In Arizona, that likely means a damp holiday instead of a snowy one.

Hayleigh Evans writes about extreme weather and related topics for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Email her with story tips at hayleigh.evans@arizonarepublic.com.

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