It was more than fitting.
With the ASU women’s basketball team trailing California 50-44 with 4:31 to play Saturday afternoon, the Sun Devils needed that extra jolt.
Enter seniors Danielle Orsillo and Kayli Murphy in what could have been their final appearance on the Wells Fargo Arena court.
The pair combined for eight points and made one key play after another during the crucial 13-0 run that propelled the Sun Devils to a 57-50 comeback victory over the Golden Bears in the team’s regular-season home finale.
“It was more than a game for me,” Orsillo said. “I just knew when I’m in that place where it’s more than just a game, I’m just going to go my hardest. [This game] was just very special, and what a way to go.”
Following a 3-pointer by ASU freshman guard Deja Mann, which was assisted by Orsillo, that sliced Cal’s lead in half, a layup by Orsillo and then an offensive rebound and layup by Murphy gave the Sun Devils a 51-50 advantage with 1:42 to play.
Orsillo then grabbed the defensive rebound on the Golden Bears’ next possession before draining an off-balance, one-handed jumper to put the Sun Devils (17-10, 9-7 Pac-10) up three with 38 seconds to play.
Then after a pass from Cal senior guard Natasha Vital to freshman forward DeNesha Stallworth went out of bounds, Murphy nailed the pair of free throws that virtually clinched the win for the Sun Devils.
“That was really cool, just for [Orsillo and Murphy] to remember,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “To have a game like that on your Senior Day was awesome.”
Orisllo finished with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Murphy pulled down 10 rebounds in addition to her six points.
Cal took a 14-10 lead midway through the first half on a layup by freshman forward Gennifer Brandon before a 3-pointer in the left corner by ASU sophomore Alex Earl sparked a 7-0 run that allowed the Sun Devils to gain the advantage for the rest of the half.
ASU’s cushion grew to nine points when a jumper by junior forward Becca Tobin in the opening minute of the second period made the score 31-22, but that lead quickly fizzled when the Golden Bears rattled off a 7-1 spurt to gain a 35-34 advantage with just over 14 minutes to go.
A layup by freshman guard Eliza Pierre gave the Golden Bears (17-11, 11-6 Pac-10) their largest lead of the game of 47-40 and still had a 50-44 advantage when senior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson silenced the crowd with a 3-pointer at the 4:31 mark.
At the next timeout, Turner Thorne’s message to her team was simple: “They’re not scoring again.”
They didn’t.
Cal missed its final eight shots and turned the ball over twice during the final four minutes while ASU staged its rally.
“We stepped up, and I think it just shows our growth,” Murphy said. “We were just like ‘OK, this isn’t going to faze us. Just do what we have to do,’ and we did it. I don’t think anybody had a doubt, even when we were down.”
Tobin notched a double-double in the win, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Gray-Lawson tallied 16 points and added seven rebounds for Cal, Brandon had 10 points and four rebounds and Pierre added nine points, six rebounds and four assists.
Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu
