As time dwindled on the clock, UCLA senior guard Japreece Dean didn’t hesitate to leave Wells Fargo Arena stunned.
ASU just previously won in Corvallis against No. 9 Oregon State in double-overtime earlier this week, but Dean wasn't about to have that happen again. She took a few dribbles in front of senior forward Kianna Ibis before knocking down a game-winning step-back 3-pointer.
The shot stunned the Sun Devil women’s basketball team and left ASU down 61-59 against UCLA. ASU (13-6, 4-4) had a chance to answer, but junior guard Reili Richardson couldn’t convert a coast-to-coast layup in traffic. UCLA sophomore forward Lauryn Miller had a game-high 17 points on 8-for-11 off the bench for UCLA in 18 minutes.
“The thing you don’t want to have happen after a big win, happened,” ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. “I think we played a little tired, and we let up a little bit. We didn’t rebound the way we needed to rebound, and we didn’t guard the ball the way we needed to guard the ball.”
ASU has been in this position several times this season, fighting down-to-the-wire to win a game. Although the Sun Devils have won some and lost some, redshirt senior forward Courtney Ekmark always has the same message, “we have to take it at the end,” because anything can happen in those situations.
Ekmark, Richardson and Turner Thorne all mentioned the same aspects, saying ASU didn’t boxout well — as UCLA won the rebound battle, which included 14 offensive boards. The Sun Devils didn’t defend well and started slow, not playing its usual style as the Bruins played solid pressure defense.
“We are a really good team,” Richardson said. “When we get away from the little things that hurts us.”
This culminated in the final minute.
ASU had a two-point lead against UCLA (10-9, 3-4) with less than a minute left, but sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere made a 3-pointer to give the Bruins the lead. After a timeout, Richardson answered with a contested layup in traffic to regain the lead for the Sun Devils.
On the next possession, ASU almost forced UCLA into a turnover, but the Bruins called a timeout with 17.2 left. Dean, who finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, then silenced the crowd — full of kids on Sparky’s Kids to College Field Trip Game — with her step-back 3-pointer with 7.9 seconds left.
With no timeouts, Richardson raced down the court looking to make a play. She went up for a layup in traffic but couldn’t covert, and ASU ran out of time.
Turner Thorne expects her team to respond well on Sunday against USC in Tempe, and Ekmark feels the same way. She is motivated for ASU to have a bounce-back performance.
“I think you guys are going to see a fired-up Sun Devil team on Sunday,” Ekmark said. “This is definitely something that we are not going to take lightly.”
Reach the reporter at nahiatt@asu.edu or follow @NATE_HIATT on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepressport on Twitter.
