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ASU Women's Basketball Comes Up Short in Comeback at No. 25 UCLA

ASU Women's Basketball Comes Up Short in Comeback at No. 25 UCLAASU Women's Basketball Comes Up Short in Comeback at No. 25 UCLA

March 4, 2010

Final Stats

LOS ANGELES - The Arizona State women's basketball team nearly overcame a nine-point deficit in the final minutes before having its comeback attempt fall just short in a 63-59 loss to the No. 25 UCLA Bruins.

Senior guard Danielle Orsillo (14 points, three assists, five steals), junior guard Tenaya Watson (13 points, 3 steals) and sophomore guard Alex Earl (11 points, 3-5 3-point FGs) led the Sun Devils' offensive effort on Thursday night.

UCLA (21-7, 14-3 Pac-10) had four players score in double figures paced by sophomore forward Jasmine Dixon, who scored 14 points (6-12 FGs) and grabbed seven rebounds.

The Bruins shot 51 percent for the game and held a slight rebounding edge (35-33) over the Sun Devils, who recorded a season-high 16 steals.

The Sun Devils (17-11, 9-8) found themselves down by nine points following a layup by UCLA sophomore guard Rebekah Gardener, which gave the Bruins a 56-47 lead with 2:37 remaining.

Watson and Orsillo would make two free throws on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to 56-51 before a jumper by UCLA junior guard Darxia Morris extended the Bruins' lead back to 58-51 with 1:33 left.

A layup by Watson once again brought ASU to within five points, 58-53.

The two teams would alternate one-of-two free throw efforts over the next three possessions, which left the Bruins with a 60-54 lead before a three-point play by junior forward Becca Tobin cut the deficit in half, 60-57, with 16 seconds left.

After Gardener made one of two free throws Orsillo immediately came down and hit a jumper to make it a two-point game.

The Bruins then turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play giving the Sun Devils a chance to tie or win, however Orsillo had the ball stripped as she was attempting her shot with one second left.

The Sun Devils got off to a slow start offensively as the Bruins scored 14 of the first 15 points to take a 14-1 lead nine minutes into the game.

ASU would answer the Bruins' start with a 22-9 run over the next nine minutes to take their first lead of the game, 23-22, following a pair of free throws by redshirt sophomore center Kali Bennett.

A free throw by UCLA senior guard Erika Tukianinen with 1:13 remaining sent the teams to the locker room tied at 23-23.

Orsillo (five points), Watson (four points) and Bennett (four points) combined to score 13 of ASU's 23 first-half points.

The Sun Devils close out the regular season portion of their schedule on Saturday (12:30 PT/1:30 p.m. MT) when they face the USC Trojans at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

The game can be heard live on The Fan AM 1060.