ASU basketball lost a nail-biter against UCLA for their final regular season game on Sunday. The final score was 55-52.
The loss gives ASU basketball a 9-9 conference record, 18-11 overall, and UCLA 13-5 conference and 22-7 overall records.
“It was a good game,” said senior Sophie Brunner, “We just couldn’t finish it.”
Arizona State played energetically throughout the game. Coach Charli Turner Thorne used her team’s deep bench to their advantage. It seemed as if she was constantly cycling through her players.
The Sun Devils played with strong ball movement and scored well in the paint, they scored nearly double what the Bruins did in the paint.
They also played well on the defensive front. They held the Bruins to a meager 13 of 41 in the first three quarters.
Ultimately, it was the second half that spelled trouble for the Sun Devils. Their shooting dropped sharply from 60 percent in the second to 25 percent in the third; it didn’t improve much in the fourth either, leading to an opening for the Bruins to capitalize on.
ASU held the lead from the second quarter until the beginning of the fourth. They briefly came back when Reili Richardson stole ball for a fast-break layup. However, the lead went back to the Bruins after two consecutive three pointers.
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Three free-throws and a Richardson three later, the Sun Devils had regained the lead with less than two minutes left in the game.
However, it wasn’t long before UCLA regained the lead with their own free-throws and there they stayed.
Much like the flip-flopping of the fourth quarter, the first saw neither team establishing clear dominance. The lead changed three times in those first 10 minutes alone.
The Sun Devils started the game off with a 6-0 run in the first three minutes. However, the Bruins responded with their own 7-0 run in the next three minutes.
The second quarter only saw one lead change, and ASU finished out the half leading 32-27 behind a strong 12 of 25 shooting.
ASU’s strong shooting slowed down in the third quarter though; they only made three of their 12 shots, allowing UCLA to get within two points going into the fourth.
On senior night, it was seniors who led the team. As Turner Thorne said, Brunner played her “heart and soul out” while scoring an impressive 20 points and nine rebounds. While Quinn Dornstauder scored 10 points and six rebounds.
Next: ASU WBB: ASU vs UCLA Preview
Next-up, the Sun Devils will head to Seattle to compete in the Pac-12 tournament. The tournament begins March 2 and ends March 5.