Jan. 14, 2005
LOS ANGELES - Sophomore Emily Westerberg made two free throws with 35 seconds left to help 25th-ranked Arizona State beat No. 19/19 UCLA 44-42 at Pauley Pavilion on Friday night in Pac-10 women's basketball action.
With the victory, ninth-year head coach Charli Turner Thorne became the all-time winningest coach in Arizona State women's basketball history. Turner Thorne now has a 135-116 record at ASU and passed Juliene Simpson (134-92, 1979-87) with Friday's win over the Bruins. ASU won its second straight game and improved to 12-4 overall and 4-2 in Pac-10 play in handing the Bruins (11-4, 5-1) their first conference loss of the year and snapping UCLA's 10-game home winning streak.
The Sun Devils never trailed in the defensive battle. Freshman Reagan Pariseau drained three three-pointers early in the first half as ASU built a 13-5 lead with 7:48 to play. The Sun Devils led by as many as nine points in the first half and took a 19-13 advantage into the locker room at the half. Pariseau had all 11 of her points in the first half, while the defense-minded Sun Devils held the Bruins to just 18.5 percent shooting and five first-half field goals.
Arizona State scored the first five points of the second half to build a 24-13 lead with 17:37 to play in the game. The Sun Devils would go for four minutes without a field goal and allowed the Bruins to get within three, 26-23 with 12:19 to play, but senior Kylan Loney knocked down a three-pointer and junior Amy Denson hit a jumper to regain an eight-point advantage.
The Sun Devils held off the Bruins later in the half as UCLA made four free throws and Amanda Livingston made a layup to tie the game at 35 with 4:08 to play. Westerberg made a layup of her own 27 seconds later, but UCLA again tied it up with another pair of free throws. Westerberg however, knocked down a pair of free throws and Loney hit a tough jumper to put the Sun Devils up 42-37 with 1:42 to play. UCLA's Lisa Willis hit a three-pointer to cut it to two, but Westerberg's free throws with 35 seconds left made it a two-possession game.
UCLA's Nikki Blue scored with 21.7 seconds left to pull UCLA within two. The Sun Devils' Kylan Loney then was fouled with 9.1 seconds left and missed both shots. UCLA got a deadball offensive rebound with 0.3 seconds left, but the inbounds pass was intercepted by ASU senior Carrie Buckner to hold off the late rally and give ASU its first win at Pauley Pavilion since 2002.
Westerberg finished with eight points, including six in the second half, and a career-best 11 rebounds, while junior Kristen Kovesdy had nine points and eight rebounds, all in the second half.
Blue led the Bruins with 12 points, four assists and seven rebounds, and Quinn scored eight points, snapping her streak of double-figure scoring at 35 games. UCLA tied the school record for fewest points in a game at Pauley Pavilion set against Utah in 2000 and also matched against Georgia in 1985.
Arizona State returns to action on Sunday afternoon at USC. The Sun Devils head into Sunday's game looking for their first road sweep of the L.A. schools since 2002. The game at USC's Lyon Center will be televised to a national audience by Fox Sports Net with tip-off scheduled for 12 p.m. Pacific (1 p.m. Mountain).`
ESPN Radio 860 AM KMVP will also carry Sunday's game at USC with Jeff Munn calling the action.