ASU defeats UCLA for third straight win

February 28, 2008

<a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/january_briann00.html"… January</a> scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/simon_dymond01.html">D… Simon</a> scored all 13 of her points in the first half as Arizona State won its third straight game, defeating UCLA 73-67 on Thursday night.<separator></separator>By virtue of the win the Sun Devils clinched the No. 3 seed in next week's Pac-10 Tournament in San Jose.<separator></separator>The Sun Devils shot 44 percent for the game while scoring 20 points off of UCLA's 19 turnovers. Led by juniors <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/lacey_lauren01.html">L… Lacey</a> (11 points) and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/dosty_sybil00.html">Sy… Dosty</a> (10 points), ASU also had a 30-20 advantage in points in the paint.<separator></separator>Nina Earl and Tierra Henderson both led UCLA with 12 points.<separator></separator>ASU (19-9, 13-4 Pac-10) controlled the action for much of the first half after taking an early 11-2 lead. A field goal by <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/engelbrecht_kate00.htm… Engelbrecht</a> gave ASU its largest lead of the half, 27-10 with 10:15 remaining.<separator></separator>The Bruins (14-14, 9-8 Pac-10) used an 11-2 run to cut ASU's lead to eight points, however the Sun Devils would eventually extend back out to a double-digit lead and took a 40-28 lead into the locker room.<separator></separator>In the second half it was the Bruins quickly seizing the initiative, scoring eight of the first 10 points to cut ASU's halftime advantage in half, 42-36. The Sun Devils would extend their advantage back to nine points before another Bruin run later in the half cut the ASU lead to three, 49-46, with just under 11 minutes remaining. The Bruins would get within three points on two other occasions, however would get no closer. After a layup by Earl cut ASU's advantage to 59-56 with just over six minutes left, the Sun Devils went on a 6-0 run to take a 65-56 lead.<separator></separator> ASU closes out the regular season on Saturday (11 a.m. PT/noon MT) when it faces the USC Women of Troy at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. The game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net.