(Photo: Paige Cook/WCSN)
Despite a hot start and a late game surge, Arizona State women’s basketball still fell short in a crucial 59-52 loss to the UCLA Bruins.
Arizona State (12-14, 4-9 Pac-12) came out like a freight train in the first quarter. The team was active and aggressive on both sides of the ball. The Devils moved the ball assisting on six of their seven field goals, and got off to an early 16-7 lead at the hands of the guards.
The trio of Taya Hanson, Jade Loville and Jaddan Simmons were the major keys to ASU’s offense. Loville came out with her typical hot hand, giving the Devils 12 points in the first half. Simmons and Hanson added a combined 11. Despite getting a good start to the game, the Devils would find themselves trailing 34-31 after two quarters of play.
The first quarter went all the Devils way, but needless to say, the second quarter was not the same. The Bruins Charisma Osborne put up 10 points by herself to help UCLA outscore the Devils by 10. The Devils went 1 of 7 to end the first half, and lost a seven point lead.
This battle between two of the Pac-12’s top three scorers was special to watch. Osborne and Loville reign as the second and third leading scorers in all of Pac-12 play. Loville came out on top dropping 21 while Osborne hit her season average contributing 17. Even with Loville getting 21, the Sun Devils’ ability to finish games has been lackluster for the past six games.
“We continue to miss open shots,” head coach Charli Turner Thorne said, our top scorers for the year haven’t exactly been on fire down the stretch.”
The matchup between these two is always physical, and once again, it was nothing short of that. When a matchup gets physical, Turner Thorne said she preaches that the team must prepare to roll with the punches.
“I tell these kids the day they get here it’s a hit or be hit world in the Pac-12,” said Turner Thorne. “If you don’t hit them you’re going to get shoved in the back and they will get the rebound, and guess what? They won’t call it.”
The Sun Devils often win games when they dominate the glass and win the turnover battle. They were controlling the ball, but not the boards on Saturday afternoon. Arizona State coughed up the ball only nine times all game and caused 17 turnovers.
Rebounding however was a struggle as the Bruins shut them down. The Bruins out-rebounded the Devils, 44-29. The Sun Devils have now dropped four of their last six games in the rebound margin, and are 1-5 over that six game stretch.
The fourth quarter was the whole show. Both teams were aggressive on both sides of the ball, but were looking to control until the end. It started with the Bruins going up by 9 with just under 5 minutes to go. The Bruins then went scoreless until they were sent to the free throw line. The Devils were able to bring it within five, but could not capitalize as the game came down to the final buzzer.
Arizona State is now, including the forfeit to Cal, on a six-game losing streak as they head to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament. The losing streak likely makes a tournament championship ASU’s only way into the NCAA Tournament.
“We go as one… they have my back too, I think we all have that mindset,” said Simmons on next week’s tournament.
The Sun Devils and Bruins look forward to the tournament where the entire season is on the line. The tournament begins next Wednesday, March 2 at 1:00 p.m. MST.
