TUCSON, Ariz. – The Sun Devil women's basketball nearly came away with consecutive Top 10 wins for the second time in three seasons but ultimately fell short as No. 6 Arizona used a late surge to come away with a 62-58 win and prevent a Sun Devil sweep.
Jaddan Simmons tied her season high in scoring with 16 points and had a game-high four assists to lead the Sun Devils (12-9, 4-4 Pac-12), who were without one of their top contributors, Maggie Besselink, for the second straight game.
Coming off her fourth double-double of the season (career-high 19 points, 10 rebounds), Mael Gilles came through with another impressive performance with 15 points and five rebounds.
Jade Loville added eight points and the Sun Devil bench – Gabriela Bosquez (five points), Ayzhiana Basallo (five points), Katelyn Levings (four points), Sydney Erikstrup (three points) – contributed 17 points.
"We didn't shoot quite as well from the free throw line as we did on Friday," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "We played through a lot – the crowd, us not having our best stuff, we were still right there. I'm really proud of [the effort] and I'm really encouraged by [it].
"We just have to go on the road and keep getting better. They're a good team. It's hard not having Maggie [Besselink] right now. We're a little shy on our rotation. I had to play Mael [Gilles] a lot of minutes. I think she kind of carried us the first half… I thought our bench did well. We really do need them."
After dominating the rebounding battle to the tune of plus-14 in Friday's win, the Sun Devils were minus-5 in Sunday's loss.
"Rebounding. It was a huge difference, we controlled rebounds the first game," Turner Thorne explained. "You know against Arizona you might have a few more turnovers, so possession-wise, I thought we did a much better job. Both games were close. Both games kind of went down to the wire. We executed better at our place."
A big swing in momentum occurred in the final four-plus minutes of the third quarter. Up 46-40 and with possession of the ball, the Sun Devils were not able to extend their lead. The Wildcats (18-4, 8-4) scored the next six points to tie the game. Arizona would go on to end the quarter on an 11-3 run to take a 51-49 lead going into the final quarter. It would eventually lead by as many as six after scoring the first four points of the fourth quarter.
The defensive battle most would have expected between the two teams finally came to pass in the final period. Neither team reached double digits in scoring until there were 22 seconds remaining in the game.
After Arizona scored a bucket to go up by six with 7:40 remaining, both teams were unable to score until a layup by Gilles a little under three minutes later. The Sun Devils methodically built up a 6-0 run to tie the game at 57-57 with 1:33 remaining.
Arizona scored the next five points as the Sun Devils were able to produce any points until a free throw by Jaddan Simmons with nine seconds remaining.
Similar to Friday's game, the amount of offensive success both teams had in the first half belied what might have been expected considering both squads came into the game ranked among the top third in the Pac-12 in scoring defense: Arizona (2nd/56.9 ppg) and Arizona State (4th/58.9 ppg). The two teams combined to shoot 64 percent (27-42) over the first 20 minutes:
Eight different Sun Devils scored in the first half with Gilles (nine points), Simmons (seven points) and Jade Loville and Ayzhiana Basallo (five points each) combining for 26 points.
Sunday's game at Arizona was the first of four consecutive road games the Sun Devils are playing over an eight-day stretch. The Sun Devils return to action on Wednesday (1 p.m. PST/2 p.m. MST/Pac-12 Network, Arizona, Bay Area/1440 AM KAZG) when they play at Cal in a makeup of a contest originally scheduled for Jan. 30. From Berkeley, ASU will travel to the state of Washington for contests at Washington State on Friday (7 pm PST/8 p.m. MST/Pac-12 Washington/KDUS AM 1060) and at Washington on Sunday (12 p.m. PST/1 p.m. MST/Pac-12 Arizona/KDUS AM 1060).
Jaddan Simmons tied her season high in scoring with 16 points and had a game-high four assists to lead the Sun Devils (12-9, 4-4 Pac-12), who were without one of their top contributors, Maggie Besselink, for the second straight game.
Coming off her fourth double-double of the season (career-high 19 points, 10 rebounds), Mael Gilles came through with another impressive performance with 15 points and five rebounds.
Jade Loville added eight points and the Sun Devil bench – Gabriela Bosquez (five points), Ayzhiana Basallo (five points), Katelyn Levings (four points), Sydney Erikstrup (three points) – contributed 17 points.
"We didn't shoot quite as well from the free throw line as we did on Friday," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "We played through a lot – the crowd, us not having our best stuff, we were still right there. I'm really proud of [the effort] and I'm really encouraged by [it].
"We just have to go on the road and keep getting better. They're a good team. It's hard not having Maggie [Besselink] right now. We're a little shy on our rotation. I had to play Mael [Gilles] a lot of minutes. I think she kind of carried us the first half… I thought our bench did well. We really do need them."
After dominating the rebounding battle to the tune of plus-14 in Friday's win, the Sun Devils were minus-5 in Sunday's loss.
"Rebounding. It was a huge difference, we controlled rebounds the first game," Turner Thorne explained. "You know against Arizona you might have a few more turnovers, so possession-wise, I thought we did a much better job. Both games were close. Both games kind of went down to the wire. We executed better at our place."
A big swing in momentum occurred in the final four-plus minutes of the third quarter. Up 46-40 and with possession of the ball, the Sun Devils were not able to extend their lead. The Wildcats (18-4, 8-4) scored the next six points to tie the game. Arizona would go on to end the quarter on an 11-3 run to take a 51-49 lead going into the final quarter. It would eventually lead by as many as six after scoring the first four points of the fourth quarter.
The defensive battle most would have expected between the two teams finally came to pass in the final period. Neither team reached double digits in scoring until there were 22 seconds remaining in the game.
After Arizona scored a bucket to go up by six with 7:40 remaining, both teams were unable to score until a layup by Gilles a little under three minutes later. The Sun Devils methodically built up a 6-0 run to tie the game at 57-57 with 1:33 remaining.
Arizona scored the next five points as the Sun Devils were able to produce any points until a free throw by Jaddan Simmons with nine seconds remaining.
Similar to Friday's game, the amount of offensive success both teams had in the first half belied what might have been expected considering both squads came into the game ranked among the top third in the Pac-12 in scoring defense: Arizona (2nd/56.9 ppg) and Arizona State (4th/58.9 ppg). The two teams combined to shoot 64 percent (27-42) over the first 20 minutes:
Eight different Sun Devils scored in the first half with Gilles (nine points), Simmons (seven points) and Jade Loville and Ayzhiana Basallo (five points each) combining for 26 points.
Sunday's game at Arizona was the first of four consecutive road games the Sun Devils are playing over an eight-day stretch. The Sun Devils return to action on Wednesday (1 p.m. PST/2 p.m. MST/Pac-12 Network, Arizona, Bay Area/1440 AM KAZG) when they play at Cal in a makeup of a contest originally scheduled for Jan. 30. From Berkeley, ASU will travel to the state of Washington for contests at Washington State on Friday (7 pm PST/8 p.m. MST/Pac-12 Washington/KDUS AM 1060) and at Washington on Sunday (12 p.m. PST/1 p.m. MST/Pac-12 Arizona/KDUS AM 1060).