ASU WBB: Arizona State Can't Complete Comeback Against UCLA

Arizona State women’s basketball faced UCLA on Friday night and lost 60-69.

The loss is the second in a row for the Sun Devils and drops their record to 14-6 overall and 5-4 in conference play. The Bruins improve to 16-4 and 7-2 with their fifth consecutive win.

UCLA led ASU by as much as 18 points in the first half, but the Sun Devils came out with more fight in the second half. They managed to cut the Bruins’ lead to five points in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t finish the comeback.

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Senior Sophie Brunner led the Sun Devils in points, rebounds and assists while freshman Robbie Ryan was not far behind. Brunner finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists; Ryan finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Meanwhile, the Bruins’ win came thanks to an impressive 26 points by junior Jordin Canada and a double-double from junior Monique Billings (16 points, 10 rebounds).

Despite tying UCLA for points in the fourth quarter and outscoring them in the third, the deficit built in the first and second quarters was too much to overcome for ASU. They scored 22 in the third quarter and 14 in the fourth, but only 13 and 11 in the first and second quarters, respectively.

ASU’s defense stepped up in the second half, but their offense slowed down at the same time. Their field goal percentage dropped by 18.6 percent in the second half while their opponent took 15 less shots at the basket.

Arizona State will stay in Los Angeles to face USC next; they hope to hand the Trojans their ninth consecutive loss. USC has only won one conference game this season and currently stands in last place in the Pac-12.

The Sun Devils’ game versus the Trojans will be available to watch on Pac-12 Networks on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. MST.