Feb. 8, 2008
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Briann January scored 14 points and had six assists to lead Arizona State past Arizona 67-64 Friday night in Pac-10 play.
The Sun Devils made 12-of-15 free throws in the final 5:42, including two by Dymond Simon with 1.7 seconds left, in winning their fifth straight game and moving back into a second-place tie with Stanford, a game back of California.
Rheya Neabors scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists for the Wildcats, who had won three of four coming into the game.
Ashley Whisonant added 15 points and six assists for Arizona (9-14, 3-9), which fell into a tie for eighth in the conference with the loss.
Arizona State (16-7, 10-2) didn't get the lead for good until Sybil Dosty made two free throws with 4:43 left. Whisonant converted a 3-point play with 1:28 left to get Arizona within 59-57 but Kirsten Thompson sank a short turnaround shot on the other end to give Arizona State a 61-57 ad vantage with 1:12 left.
Neabors missed a 22-footer from the top of the key with 57 seconds left and the Wildcats never got closer until Tasha Dickey stole an inbounds pass and made a basket and a subsequent free throw with 2.5 seconds left to cut the lead to 65-64.
Arizona had forced 15 first-half Sun Devil turnovers, opening up a 20-13 lead after a 10-0 run with 9:22 left before the break. But Arizona State scored the last six points of the half to pull even at 25. Both teams shot under 38 percent in the half and had 25 turnovers between them.
Arizona had won its last two conference games and was looking for its first three-game Pac-10 winning streak since 2005.
Arizona State beat Arizona 75-65 in Tucson on Jan. 12 and has won eight of the last nine meetings between the teams.