TEMPE, Ariz. – The Arizona State women's basketball team will open play in the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday (2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT) when it faces Utah in the second of four first round games at KeyArena in Seattle, Washington.
The Sun Devils (18-11, 9-9 Pac-12), who had already clinched the No. 5 seed ahead of their contest against No. 15 UCLA on Sunday, were denied the chance to post a winning record in conference play as the Bruins edged the Sun Devils 55-52 on Senior Day.
For the second straight game Sophie Brunner led all scorers with 20 points (9-16 FGs) to go along with nine rebounds. Also reaching double figures in scoring were Sabrina Haines (11 points) and Quinn Dornstauder (10 points, six rebounds, three assists).
The Sun Devils came up with an outstanding defensive performance against the Bruins (22-7, 13-5), who had not scored fewer than 60 points since a 66-57 loss at South Carolina on Dec. 18. The Bruins' offensive woes were punctuated by a 33 percent shooting performance.
"I guess the good news is that we're getting better and getting back to playing how the way we did (before senior guard Kelsey Moos got hurt)," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "These games up to now have gotten away from us a little bit. Obviously, today's game was right there to be taken. It was probably more us... just make your free throws, don't foul down the stretch, things like that.
"I was proud of our effort. Obviously hard not to get the win on Senior Day, but big-picture-wise, going into March I think that we are on an upswing. I think we're playing some of our best basketball."
UCLA was able to supplement its point total with a 15 for 18 effort from the free throw line. After knocking down 19 of 21 free throw attempts in the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 27 in Los Angeles, the Sun Devils struggled from the charity stripe on Sunday as they made only 11 of their 20 attempts.
Trailing by five with less than four minutes remaining the Sun Devils scored six straight points to take a 51-50 lead after Brunner knocked down a pair of free throws with two minutes remaining. Dornstauder extended the scoring burst to 7-0 and the lead to two after adding another free throw.
Jordin Canada, who had 12 points and a game-high eight assists for the Bruins drew a foul and hit both free throws to tie the game at 52-52 with 91 seconds remaining.
The Sun Devils would come up empty on their last three possessions while UCLA was able to make three to make three free throws in the final 42 seconds. Brunner and Haines both attempted 3-pointers to force overtime in the final seconds but neither shot fell and the Bruins left Tempe with the win.
The Sun Devils led by as many seven in the first half after Reili Richardson drained two free throws to put ASU up 28-21 at the midpoint of the second quarter.
ASU would lead by seven twice in the third quarter but Kennedy Burke, who led UCLA with 16 points, scored eight of the Bruins' 10 points in the third quarter to help UCLA get within two points going into the fourth quarter.
The Sun Devils were victorious in their only meeting of the season with Utah, their opponent in Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament first round game. Dornstauder scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Richardson and fellow freshman Robbi Ryan added 10 points each in ASU's 66-44 win in Salt Lake City on Jan. 6. It was ASU's first game without senior guard Kelsey Moos who was injured late in ASU's double-overtime win over Cal on New Year's Day. She would go on to miss ASU's next 12 games before returning for ASU's game at Arizona on Feb. 17.
Senior Sun Devils Brunner, Dornstauder, Sara Hattis and Moos were all honored in a ceremony following Sunday's game vs. UCLA.
Thursday's game vs. Utah (2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT) will be shown live on Pac-12 Network.
The Sun Devils (18-11, 9-9 Pac-12), who had already clinched the No. 5 seed ahead of their contest against No. 15 UCLA on Sunday, were denied the chance to post a winning record in conference play as the Bruins edged the Sun Devils 55-52 on Senior Day.
For the second straight game Sophie Brunner led all scorers with 20 points (9-16 FGs) to go along with nine rebounds. Also reaching double figures in scoring were Sabrina Haines (11 points) and Quinn Dornstauder (10 points, six rebounds, three assists).
The Sun Devils came up with an outstanding defensive performance against the Bruins (22-7, 13-5), who had not scored fewer than 60 points since a 66-57 loss at South Carolina on Dec. 18. The Bruins' offensive woes were punctuated by a 33 percent shooting performance.
"I guess the good news is that we're getting better and getting back to playing how the way we did (before senior guard Kelsey Moos got hurt)," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "These games up to now have gotten away from us a little bit. Obviously, today's game was right there to be taken. It was probably more us... just make your free throws, don't foul down the stretch, things like that.
"I was proud of our effort. Obviously hard not to get the win on Senior Day, but big-picture-wise, going into March I think that we are on an upswing. I think we're playing some of our best basketball."
UCLA was able to supplement its point total with a 15 for 18 effort from the free throw line. After knocking down 19 of 21 free throw attempts in the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 27 in Los Angeles, the Sun Devils struggled from the charity stripe on Sunday as they made only 11 of their 20 attempts.
Trailing by five with less than four minutes remaining the Sun Devils scored six straight points to take a 51-50 lead after Brunner knocked down a pair of free throws with two minutes remaining. Dornstauder extended the scoring burst to 7-0 and the lead to two after adding another free throw.
Jordin Canada, who had 12 points and a game-high eight assists for the Bruins drew a foul and hit both free throws to tie the game at 52-52 with 91 seconds remaining.
The Sun Devils would come up empty on their last three possessions while UCLA was able to make three to make three free throws in the final 42 seconds. Brunner and Haines both attempted 3-pointers to force overtime in the final seconds but neither shot fell and the Bruins left Tempe with the win.
The Sun Devils led by as many seven in the first half after Reili Richardson drained two free throws to put ASU up 28-21 at the midpoint of the second quarter.
ASU would lead by seven twice in the third quarter but Kennedy Burke, who led UCLA with 16 points, scored eight of the Bruins' 10 points in the third quarter to help UCLA get within two points going into the fourth quarter.
The Sun Devils were victorious in their only meeting of the season with Utah, their opponent in Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament first round game. Dornstauder scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Richardson and fellow freshman Robbi Ryan added 10 points each in ASU's 66-44 win in Salt Lake City on Jan. 6. It was ASU's first game without senior guard Kelsey Moos who was injured late in ASU's double-overtime win over Cal on New Year's Day. She would go on to miss ASU's next 12 games before returning for ASU's game at Arizona on Feb. 17.
Senior Sun Devils Brunner, Dornstauder, Sara Hattis and Moos were all honored in a ceremony following Sunday's game vs. UCLA.
Thursday's game vs. Utah (2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT) will be shown live on Pac-12 Network.