It looks like Katie Hempen found her rhythm.
With 20 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting, the redshirt senior guard for No. 8 ASU women's basketball propelled her team to a 65-61 victory over No. 14 UCLA on Friday.
Hempen set the school record for career three-pointers (163), providing the offensive punch her team needed to squeak by the Bruins (16-6, 8-3 Pac-12).
"It feels good because hard work has paid off," Hempen said. "I have to give a lot of it to my teammates and coaches, specifically (assistant coach) Amanda Levens — she's really helped me out throughout my career."
Both teams made four three-pointers in this game, All of ASU's came from Hempen and three of UCLA's came from junior guard Kari Korver, cousin of Atlanta Hawks shooting guard Kyle Korver.
UCLA plays at a breakneck pace and lead the conference in scoring (77.3 points per game), but the Sun Devils (19-4, 10-1 Pac-12) matched its speed and played excellent on both ends of the floor in the first quarter.
ASU shot 64 percent and forced seven turnovers in the first frame, holding a 21-11 lead after one.
The Sun Devils started out hot in the second quarter as well, but fizzled due to foul trouble and the brief absence of Hempen, who banged heads with a UCLA player and ended up with a significant bump and bruise just below her left eye.
Despite a half-court shot by UCLA sophomore guard Jordin Canada to end the half, ASU led the Bruins 30-22 at the break. The Sun Devils displayed excellent defensive discipline by holding their normally high-scoring opponents to 31 percent shooting.
That stout defense, for lack of a better term, fell apart in the third quarter as ASU allowed 27 points — many of which came in the transition game.
A few bad turnovers and easy layups later, and UCLA led for the first time all night by a score of 44-42 with less than two minutes remaining in the third.
Senior guard Elisha Davis said that despite struggling in spots on the defensive side, being able to stay connected as a team provided the difference.
"If you don't score, don't let them score," senior guard Elisha Davis said. "They had their run, and we had our big drought, but we just had connectedness and I think that was the biggest thing for us."
It was at that moment that Hempen took over, and thereafter came a moment that will live on in the history of ASU women's basketball.
Hempen pulled up from the left wing and drained a three, giving her 162 career three-pointers and her team a one-point lead — cementing her legacy as the greatest three-point shooter in program history.
The moment was overshadowed by Korver immediately burying a three of her own on the other end, but Hempen came back and hit number 163 before public address announcer Mike Wong announced her achievement.
The Sun Devils led 51-49 through three quarters of play.
A contentious game swayed heavily in favor of the Sun Devils as they began the second quarter with a mini-scoring run, getting themselves up by double digits before going ice cold from the floor and allowing the Bruins to claw back in it.
Senior guard Arnecia Hawkins fouled Canada on a three-pointer and, after three made free throws, UCLA trailed by just two points with 6.9 seconds to go. Two free throws from junior forward Kelsey Moos sealed the deal for the Sun Devils as they escaped with a 65-61 win.
"It's fun to get back to being us," ASU head coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "We talked about 'hey, let's just keep making some memories in this game', and I thought we got back to being ourselves."
Turner Thorne praised Hempen's work ethic leading up to a dominant shooting performance.
"She's been getting in the gym, and that's what players do when they're a bit off," Turner Thorne said. "She didn't take one bad shot (tonight)."
ASU's next game will be against USC on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. in Tempe.
