Jan. 17, 2004
TEMPE, Ariz. - Junior Betsy Boardman scored 15 points to lead the Sun Devils, but it wasn't enough as Arizona State fell to USC 68-65 Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Arena.
The loss snapped a nine-game home winning streak for the Sun Devils who fell to 10-6 on the year and 4-3 in the Pac-10, while USC improved to 8-7 and 5-2 in league play.
Arizona State led by as many as nine points in the first half, going up 20-11 with 6:07 to play, but USC took advantage of three ASU turnovers to cut the lead to one point six minutes later. The Sun Devils held onto that advantage and led 28-27 at halftime.
ASU built a five-point lead two and a half minutes into the second half, going up 35-30. USC responded with a 10-0 run to take a 39-35 lead with 14:34 to play. ASU scored the next five points to regain the lead, but USC again capitalized on six ASU turnovers and used an 18-4 run to go up 56-44 with 5:44 to play.
The Sun Devils cut the lead to single digits late in the second half and knocked down a pair of three-pointers by Boardman and sophomore YoVanna Rosenthal to make it 68-65 with 15 seconds to play.
Junior Carrie Buckner then went up to steal the long USC inbounds pass at halfcourt and was fouled by USC freshman Eshaya Murphy to give ASU the ball with 12 seconds left. Sophomore Kristen Kovesdy was able to get a three-pointer off, but the ball bounced off the front of the rim, and USC came away with the 68-65 win.
For ASU, Boardman had 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, five rebounds and four steals, while Buckner finished with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists. Sophomore Amy Denson led the Sun Devils with nine rebounds.
For USC, Murphy and senior Rometra Craig led four USC players in double figures with 11 points, while freshman Jamie Hagiya and sophomore Meghan Gnekow each added 10. Senior Ebony Hoffman had a game-high 10 rebounds.
Arizona State returns to the road next week, traveling to Oregon State on Thursday night and Oregon on Saturday afternoon. Both games can be heard locally on NBC 1190 AM with Vince Marotta calling the action or via the internet at www.thesundevils.com.
The Oregon game will also be televised live nationally by Fox Sports Net at 12 p.m. Pacific Time/1 p.m. Mountain Time on Saturday.