TUCSON — The ASU women’s basketball team has fallen into a bad habit of giving up second-half leads.

Against USC, the Sun Devils blew a double-digit advantage in the last five minutes to lose to the Women of Troy.

Against Oregon, ASU suffered a scare when it built a big lead but had trouble hitting clutch free throws down the stretch.

Sunday’s contest against UA followed a similar pattern, but this time, the Sun Devils were able to close out the game on their own terms.

ASU used an offensive spurt midway through the second half and then hit 6-of-6 free throws in the final 35 seconds to nab a 73-67 win over the rival Wildcats at the McKale Center.

“I was just really proud of our team in terms of I thought we had better poise in the second half,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “[We did a better job of] just taking care of the ball and hitting our free throws and controlling the boards.”

The victory was ASU’s ninth straight over UA, but it did not come easily.

After the Sun Devils (11-6, 4-3 Pac-10) had led by as many as 11 points in the second half, the Wildcats (9-7, 3-4 Pac-10) made it a one-possession game on three occasions in the final three minutes.

The best chance for UA to tie the game came after freshman guard Davellyn Whyte connected on two free throws to cut ASU’s lead to 67-64 with 39 seconds left. Whyte then swiped the inbounds pass to give UA the ball back, but ASU senior forward Kayli Murphy came up with her own steal in traffic and then sank two free throws that all but iced the game.

“We’ve been in that same situation — 10-point lead with a couple minutes left — and didn’t pull it out,” ASU senior guard Danielle Orsillo said. “For me, that’s really why I was getting so excited when we were hitting our free throws, getting key rebounds, getting turnovers. [It’s] because we’re learning and we’re growing.”

A tight first half featured five ties and four lead changes, as neither team led by more than eight points.

After UA took an early 12-11 lead, the Sun Devils reeled off a 10-3 run to grab a 31-25 advantage with 9:46 to go before halftime.

That surge was sparked Watson, who hit a jumper and then immediately stole the ball and made a layup and was fouled. She missed the free throw, but ASU junior forward Becca Tobin grabbed the offensive rebound and converted a layup to complete a four-point possession for ASU.

However, the Wildcats responded with their own 18-4 run over the next seven minutes and snatched their largest lead of the game at 33-25 on a layup by junior forward Ify Ibekwe with 2:25 left before the break.

But the Sun Devils seized control at the start of the second half, as they regained the lead in the first three minutes on a layup by Tobin.

ASU never trailed again and pushed its lead up to double digits during a key 11-0 stretch following a 44-44 deadlock that featured seven points from Orsillo.

“We just came together in the second half and were just like, ‘Listen, we can’t play this defense,’” Orsillo said. “We rallied behind our defense, and it prevailed.”

UA got back within striking distance when ASU went nearly four minutes without a field goal and found itself up just 63-60 with 2:30 to play.

The taller Sun Devil squad was able to establish itself on the glass, as it outrebounded UA 48-36, including 21 offensive rebounds.

“A lack of rebounding on our part is the main reason why we lost,” UA coach Niya Butts said. “I thought in so many ways, they wanted it more. More than we wanted to beat ASU, I think they didn’t want to lose to us.”

Tobin led ASU with 19 points while Orsillo added 16. Watson also made an impact on both ends of the floor, tallying 14 points, four blocks and four steals from the point guard position.

Ibekwe notched 25 points and 16 rebounds and reached a double-double by halftime. Whyte added 22 points for the Wildcats, with 13 of those coming in the second half.

Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu