SEATTLE – The No. 25 Arizona State women's basketball team outscored No. 15 UCLA 55-38 over the last 23-plus minutes of its Pac-12 quarterfinal game against the Bruins on Friday. Unfortunately it would not be enough to offset the deep hole it dug itself over the first 17 minutes of the game as the Sun Devils fell to UCLA 77-68.
UCLA (23-7) led 26-7 after one quarter and would push its advantage to as many as 26 points in the second quarter before fending off several comeback attempts by the Sun Devils in the second half.
"Credit UCLA," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "They shot lights out, and those were not lay-ups. They were three-pointers, they were jumpers. They were scoring every which way. I thought that was about as well as I've seen them play, so I do want to credit them.
"I'm proud of our team. We just battled back. We knew we had lots of time. We got down on them the first game and battled back. We needed to sustain things a little bit better, and that's kind of our story this year just for the younger team, just kind of keeping that consistency."
Sabrina Haines led ASU for the second straight game as the sophomore guard scored all 14 points of her points in the second half. Sophie Brunner posted 13 points and Jamie Ruden, in only her second game back since a foot injury that sidelined her the entire Pac-12 season, scored 12 points.
Also contributing to ASU's comeback effort were Reili Richardson, who had eight points, seven assists and only one turnover, and Kelsey Moos, who scored seven points and had a team-high eight rebounds.
ASU shot 41 percent for the game and was able to get back into the game thanks to a 19-22 performance at the free throw line (86 percent).
UCLA had four players score in double figures led by Jordin Canada (24 points) and Monique Billings (19 points), who combined for 43 points.
Friday's contest was the third meeting of the season between the Sun Devils and the Bruins. UCLA won the first one 69-60 in Los Angeles on Jan. 27, a game in which it led by as many as 18. The Bruins came out on top again 55-52 in the regular-season finale in Tempe last Sunday, but had to come from behind to escape with the win.
Given how competitive Sunday's game was and coming off an impressive 72-54 win over Utah in the first round of the tournament on Thursday, the Sun Devils (19-12) seemed ready to step up and – with a berth in the Pac-12 semifinals on the line – find a way to emerge victorious.
As it turned out the Sun Devils' play for the majority of the first half seemed to be cursed by Murphy's Law as they made only five of their first 18 shots.
While the Sun Devils were struggling to find their offensive rhythm, their opponents could not have scripted a better start as the Bruins hit 16 of their first 27 shots.
ASU's deficit would go from 19 to 22 points after Nicole Kornet hit one of her four 3-pointers early in the second quarter. The Sun Devils scored the next four points only to see the Bruins score 10 of the next 12 to take a 39-13 lead after Ashley Hearn's layup with 4:18 remaining in the half.
After facing its largest deficit of the game, ASU's offense would start to come to life as it scored the last five points of the first half and the first six points of the second half to pull within 12. ASU's inability to get the lead down to single digits was a precursor of what was to come as time and again the Bruins would come up with a mini-scoring run to get their lead back up to anywhere between 14-18 points.
Eight times in the third and fourth quarters the Sun Devils got within 11 or 12 points but could not get any closer until the eighth and final instance which came after Brunner hit two free throws to get ASU within 11 with 1:36 remaining. After getting a stop, Haines came back with a three-point play to cut the Bruins' lead to eight, 72-64 with 1:06 remaining. ASU would get another stop and would get even closer after Robbi Ryan knocked down two more free throws to get the Sun Devils within six with 33 seconds remaining. That's as close as ASU would get as the Bruins made five free throws in the final 28 seconds to close out the win.
The Sun Devils will now await word on where they will be headed for the 2017 NCAA Tournament. The Tournament Selection Show will take place on Monday, March 13 at 4 p.m. PT and will be shown on ESPN.
UCLA (23-7) led 26-7 after one quarter and would push its advantage to as many as 26 points in the second quarter before fending off several comeback attempts by the Sun Devils in the second half.
"Credit UCLA," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "They shot lights out, and those were not lay-ups. They were three-pointers, they were jumpers. They were scoring every which way. I thought that was about as well as I've seen them play, so I do want to credit them.
"I'm proud of our team. We just battled back. We knew we had lots of time. We got down on them the first game and battled back. We needed to sustain things a little bit better, and that's kind of our story this year just for the younger team, just kind of keeping that consistency."
Sabrina Haines led ASU for the second straight game as the sophomore guard scored all 14 points of her points in the second half. Sophie Brunner posted 13 points and Jamie Ruden, in only her second game back since a foot injury that sidelined her the entire Pac-12 season, scored 12 points.
Also contributing to ASU's comeback effort were Reili Richardson, who had eight points, seven assists and only one turnover, and Kelsey Moos, who scored seven points and had a team-high eight rebounds.
ASU shot 41 percent for the game and was able to get back into the game thanks to a 19-22 performance at the free throw line (86 percent).
UCLA had four players score in double figures led by Jordin Canada (24 points) and Monique Billings (19 points), who combined for 43 points.
Friday's contest was the third meeting of the season between the Sun Devils and the Bruins. UCLA won the first one 69-60 in Los Angeles on Jan. 27, a game in which it led by as many as 18. The Bruins came out on top again 55-52 in the regular-season finale in Tempe last Sunday, but had to come from behind to escape with the win.
Given how competitive Sunday's game was and coming off an impressive 72-54 win over Utah in the first round of the tournament on Thursday, the Sun Devils (19-12) seemed ready to step up and – with a berth in the Pac-12 semifinals on the line – find a way to emerge victorious.
As it turned out the Sun Devils' play for the majority of the first half seemed to be cursed by Murphy's Law as they made only five of their first 18 shots.
While the Sun Devils were struggling to find their offensive rhythm, their opponents could not have scripted a better start as the Bruins hit 16 of their first 27 shots.
ASU's deficit would go from 19 to 22 points after Nicole Kornet hit one of her four 3-pointers early in the second quarter. The Sun Devils scored the next four points only to see the Bruins score 10 of the next 12 to take a 39-13 lead after Ashley Hearn's layup with 4:18 remaining in the half.
After facing its largest deficit of the game, ASU's offense would start to come to life as it scored the last five points of the first half and the first six points of the second half to pull within 12. ASU's inability to get the lead down to single digits was a precursor of what was to come as time and again the Bruins would come up with a mini-scoring run to get their lead back up to anywhere between 14-18 points.
Eight times in the third and fourth quarters the Sun Devils got within 11 or 12 points but could not get any closer until the eighth and final instance which came after Brunner hit two free throws to get ASU within 11 with 1:36 remaining. After getting a stop, Haines came back with a three-point play to cut the Bruins' lead to eight, 72-64 with 1:06 remaining. ASU would get another stop and would get even closer after Robbi Ryan knocked down two more free throws to get the Sun Devils within six with 33 seconds remaining. That's as close as ASU would get as the Bruins made five free throws in the final 28 seconds to close out the win.
The Sun Devils will now await word on where they will be headed for the 2017 NCAA Tournament. The Tournament Selection Show will take place on Monday, March 13 at 4 p.m. PT and will be shown on ESPN.