Jan. 16, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - Freshmen Jill Noe and Kristen Kovesdy turned in their third double-doubles of the season, but it wasn't enough as the Arizona State women's basketball team was edged by UCLA 60-58 Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
With the loss, which snapped ASU's 10-game Pac-10 home winning streak, the Sun Devils fell to 11-5 overall and 3-4 in the Pac-10, while UCLA won its sixth straight game and improved to 11-4 and 6-0 in the Pac-10.
The Sun Devils started out the first half slowly, turning the ball over 11 times and falling behind 24-13 with 8:24 left in the period. ASU, however, responded with a 16-6 run over the remaining half to go into the locker room down just 30-29 at halftime. Kovesdy and sophomore Carrie Buckner each scored six points during the Sun Devil run and went into the locker room as ASU's leading scorers with eight points apiece. Noe had six points and seven rebounds despite just playing 11 minutes.
The second half stayed close with ASU scoring the first four points of the half to take a three point lead, 33-30 with 14:48 to play. The next six minutes saw three ties and three lead changes until UCLA freshman Nikki Blue knocked down a three-pointer to put the Bruins up 42-39 with 11:46 left in the game. UCLA led by five points, 51-46 with 7:05 left to play, but ASU tied the game at 51 with 6:08 left on a layup by Buckner and a three-pointer by sophomore Kylan Loney. UCLA scored the next three points and held the lead until the Sun Devils took a 57-56 lead with 57 seconds to play after freshman Amy Denson knocked down a pair of shots. UCLA's Blue scored the next four points of the game to put the Bruins up 60-57 with seven seconds. For the Sun Devils, Kovesdy went to the line with six seconds left but hit just one of her free throws and ASU was unable to convert on their last possession as the Bruins won their sixth straight game.
For the Sun Devils, Kovesdy led the team with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Buckner and Denson each had 12 points. Noe turned in 11 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in just 20 minutes, while Denson also chipped in with nine rebounds. Buckner had six rebounds and held the Pac-10's scoring leader, UCLA senior Michelle Greco, to just six points, 13.5 points below her league-leading average. Senior Rainy Crisp led all players with a career-high six assists.
UCLA's Blue led all scorers with 30 points, including the last 14 points of the game for the Bruins. Blue and Greco each had nine rebounds.
ASU outrebounded the Bruins 55-35 and outshot them 39.1 to 36.8 percent, but turnovers proved to be the story of the game as ASU had 23 turnovers which led to Bruin points compared to UCLA's 13 turnovers and 11 ASU points.
The Sun Devils return to action Saturday night, taking on the USC Women of Troy at 7 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena. The game can be heard on NBC 1190 locally and will be televised by AZ-TV.
For tickets, call the Arizona State ticket office at (480) 965-2381 or log onto the official web site of Arizona State athletics at www.thesundevils.com.