ASU (10-4, 0-2 Pac-12) fell just short against No. 10 UCLA (13-0, 2-0) on Friday night, losing a tightly-contested 68-66 battle in Westwood.
After a back and forth second half featuring eight lead changes, the Sun Devils had multiple chances to tie or take the lead in the final moments of the game, but failed to convert each opportunity.
ASU shot and missed five attempts in the last minute of the game and rebounded each of those misses. Senior guard Reili Richardson and sophomore forward Jayde Van Hyfte each missed two shots, and senior guard Kiara Russell also missed an attempt.
Van Hyfte was able to rebound her last shot attempt, but the clock expired before she was able to attempt a putback.
Senior guard Robbi Ryan led the way for ASU, scoring 17 points on 58% shooting, including hitting three of five shots from behind the arc, despite briefly exiting the game with a leg injury.
Despite grabbing 16 offensive rebounds in the second half, ASU was only able to score three points off those opportunities.
In both of ASU's conference matchups, the team played competitively against undefeated, ranked opponents, but were unable to prevail in either game, as they fell to in-state rival No. 18 Arizona 58-53 on Dec. 29.
ASU will have a chance to gain it's first conference victory against USC in Los Angeles on Jan. 5 at 3 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at ltochter@asu.edu and follow @Leo_Toch on Twitter.
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