Jan. 8, 1998
Arizona State Women Knock Off No. 7 Washington
TEMPE, Ariz.--Junior Michelle Tom (Winslow, Ariz.) drained two three-pointers in the final 10 seconds, including the last-second buzzer-beater, to lift Arizona State (5-7 overall, 1-2 Pac-10) to a 77-76 victory over seventh-ranked Washington Thursday night in the University Activity Center.
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| Michelle Tom |
The loss was the first for Washington (10-1, 1-1 Pac-10) on the year.
"All I though about was getting the shot off," Tom said. "There was complete silence, and the shot felt good coming off my hand."
Said ASU Coach Charli Turner Thorne: "We have known all along we're a good team. We're a very talented team; we know that. And everyone knows that Washington is a very good team. We just hope now we can take this win and sustain things."
UW's Jill Pimley made two free throws to put the Huskies up 75-71 with 24 seconds on the clock. Tom then hit a three-pointer and Washington junior Jamie Redd missed the first of two free throws at the 0:05-mark, cutting the deficit to two points (76-74).
Washington led by as many as 12 points in the second half, taking charge 45-33 with 16 minutes to play. But an 18-6 ASU run, keyed by seven points from both Tom and junior Kisha White (Phoenix, Ariz.) evened the score at 51 with 10:32 left.
The Sun Devils streched their lead to six points on a three-pointer by sophomore forward Kristine Sand (Oslo, Norway) with less than six minutes to go.
"You have to give Charli (Turner Thorne) and her players a lot of credit," said Washington Coach June Daugherty. To see (number) 32 hit a shot like that was really something. We knew we wouldn't go undefeated all year."
Earning her first start, Tom paced ASU with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. Three other Sun Devils reached double figures in scoring: sophomore Rachel Holt (Buckeye, Ariz.) with 13, Sand with 11 and senior Rameeka Lowe (Seattle, Wash.) with 10. Junior Rechelle Lang contributed a game-high eight assists.
Washington's Amber Hall finished with 20 points and a career-high 21 rebounds. Redd added a game-high 24 points.
Arizona State shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) to Washington's 36.6 (30-of-82), and the Sun Devils were 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) from three-point range.
ASU's leading scorer, senior Stephanie Freeman, did not play, serving a one-game suspension for violating team rules.