ASU basketball women’s team’s run in Seattle ends in the quarterfinals as the Sun Devils were unable to overcome an early 26-point deficit.
ASU basketball women’s team fell Friday afternoon to the UCLA Bruins 77-68 in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Arizona State was seeking revenge for their loss last Sunday on Senior Day after Bruins won in Tempe 55-52.
The Sun Devils had a nightmarish start to the game as UCLA dominated the first quarter leading 26-7.
Arizona State had 6 turnovers in the first quarter resulting in 13 points for UCLA.
The Sun Devils trailed by as many 26 points in the second quarter, but Arizona State fought valiantly coming to cut it down to single-digits multiple times in the second half.
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“You just can’t spot a team 19 points,” Arizona State head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “You know, I mean, we beat them in the second quarter, the third quarter, and the fourth quarter. We just dug way too deep of a hole.”
In the final three quarters of the game, ASU outscored UCLA 61-51.
Forward Kelsey Moos talked about the message that was sent to the team as they tried to comeback from the 26-point deficit.
“I just kept trying to remind them ‘who are you as a person? What’s your character? When times get tough are you going to quit? Are you going to quit on each other or are you going to lock arms with each other in the eye and know that we can take this game?'” Moos said.
“Games like this rebuild your character and show who you are,” Moos said. “I’m really proud of the team coming out after halftime. We didn’t quit. We did not give up. We tried our hardest until the final buzzer went off.”
Guard Sabrina Haines led the Sun Devils with 14 points with forwards Sophie Brunner and Jamie Ruden scoring 13 and 12 points respectively.
UCLA’s starters came out shooting lights out as UCLA shot 51 percent from the field including a blistering 69 percent from the field.
Starting point guard Jordin Canada led the Bruins with 24 points and 7 assists with center Monique Billings also chipping in for 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Sun Devils did have a lot of positives as they shot the ball really well Friday, but it was the defense that struggled.
“We scored a lot of points, 47 points in the second half. That a huge positive for us, because usually our issue is scoring. It’s not the defense,” Turner Thorne said.
Now Arizona State has to wait until Selection Monday to find out their fate if they make the NCAA Tournament and who they are facing.
“I think our offense as we settled down and got going in our perimeter shooting combined with our inside attack, bringing that into March Madness will be exciting, because we know we can defend,” Turner Thorne said.
Next: ASU WBB: Rapid Recap, ASU Loses Big to UCLA in Pac-12 Tournament
Arizona State will find out their fate on Monday, March 13 at 4 p.m. PST and the selection show can be seen on ESPN.