Feb. 17, 2005
EUGENE, Ore. - Junior Amy Denson turned in season highs with 16 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as Arizona State fell to Oregon 66-59 Thursday night at McArthur Court.
With the loss, ASU fell to 17-8 overall and 9-6 in the Pac-10, while Oregon maintained its perfect 8-0 Pac-10 home record and is now 17-7 overall and 10-5 in league play.
The first half stayed close with four ties and neither team leading by more than five points. The Sun Devils took a four-point lead midway through the first, going up 19-15 with 9:15 to play after buckets by sophomore Emily Westerberg and Denson. Oregon used an 8-0 run to take a four-point lead of its own, 25-21 with 2:40 remaining, and led 27-22 at the break. Denson scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting and had nine rebounds to lead the Sun Devils, while Oregon senior Brandi Davis had 12 points to pace all scorers in the opening frame.
In the second half, Westerberg buried a three-pointer to get the Sun Devils within two points. The Ducks extended their lead to six, 35-29 with 14:23 to play, but senior Betsy Boardman knocked down a three-pointer to get ASU within one, 35-34, a minute later. ASU would cut the lead to one point twice more, but Oregon scored the next five points to take a 43-38 lead with 9:29 remaining.
The Sun Devils made one more late run, getting as close as four points when Westerberg drained her second trey of the game, but Oregon made three of six free throw attempts down the stretch to hang on for the 66-59 win.
Denson turned in her first double-double of the year with her 16 points and 10 rebounds and knocked down 6-of-11 attempts from the field. Westerberg was the only other Sun Devil in double figures, finishing with 12 points, while senior Kylan Loney finished with a game-high five assists.
Davis led three Ducks in double figures for scoring with 16 points, while senior Andrea Bills had 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Arizona State returns to action on Saturday night, traveling to Corvallis, Ore., to take on the Oregon State Beavers at 7 p.m. Pacific (8 p.m. Mountain). OSU (6-19, 1-14 Pac-10) lost its ninth straight Pac-10 game with a 78-59 defeat at the hands of Arizona on Thursday night.
Saturday's game at Oregon State can be heard locally on NBC 1190 AM or on the internet at www.thesundevils.com with Jeff Munn calling the action.