The ASU women's basketball team lost its second of two exhibition games against a national team when it lost to Team China Thursday.
Unlike the Sun Devils' (0-1) blowout loss to Team USA a week ago, this game was a 63-59 nail-biter.
ASU didn't take its second lead of the game until junior guard Briann January drove to the basket and scored on a lay-up with 38 seconds remaining to put the Sun Devils ahead 59-58.
But on Team China's next possession, forward Lijie Miao sunk a three-pointer to put her team up 61-59 with just 16 seconds left to play.
ASU had a chance to tie or take the lead but could not convert on the offensive end.
Team China center Xiaoni Chen made both free throws to increase the lead to four, which all but put the game out of reach.
ASU turned the ball over on its final possession, and Team China ran out the clock.
"That's our last dress rehearsal," ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "It was good to have a close game, a one possession game. I would have liked to have seen us execute (our last possession) better.
"We did want to win this game. But I always believe that you learn more when you lose. I wish we could have practice games like this every year."
ASU first took the lead about two minutes into the game when junior guard Danielle Orsillo drained a three-pointer to put the Sun Devils up 5-4.
Yet the Sun Devils would not lead again until January's lay-up in the final minute.
"There were plays throughout the game that we could have stopped that would have put us ahead the whole game," January said. "We let them go on runs the whole game. We had a few mental lapses, and we'll learn from it."
Following Orsillo's three, Team China then went on a 12-1 run to put them up 18-6 with 13:57 to go in the half.
The Sun Devils then went on an offensive spurt of their own at the end of the first half to go into the locker room down 28-30.
ASU tied the game at 30 on an Orsillo basket in the first two minutes of the second half, but the Sun Devils would not pull even with Team China again until the 2:06 mark.
With the Sun Devils down four, January was fouled on her way to the basket and awaited two free throws. A timeout was then taken, and during the break Team China forward Lan Bian was called for a technical foul.
January as a result made four consecutive free throws to tie the game at 56.
Team China center Nan Chen led all scorers with 21 points. She also tallied eight rebounds and four blocks.
"They took it at us," junior forward Lauren Lacey said. "As post players we know we got to get stronger on the inside to help our guards out."
January scored 19 points and added four rebounds and five assists for the Sun Devils.
Lacey also had a breakout night in just her third game with the Sun Devils, scoring 17 points.
The Sun Devils will resume their regular season tomorrow night when they take on UC Santa Barbara at Wells Fargo Arena. Tip-off is at 4 p.m.
Reach the reporter at: gina.mizell@asu.edu.
