ASU women's basketball defeats Washington State

Danielle Orsillo scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the second half as Arizona State (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today) defeated Washington State 64-59 to earn its first Pac-10 win of the season and snap a three-game losing streak.

Becca Tobin scored 17 points while Kayli Murphy and Tenaya Watson added 10 points each to give Sun Devil head coach Charli Turner Thorne the 300th win of her career.

After leading by as many as 10 points early in the second half the Sun Devils (9-6, 1-3 Pac-10) found themselves having to come from behind after Kiki Moore's layup gave the Cougars a 56-55 lead with 3:10 remaining.

Tobin hit one of two free throws on ASU's ensuing possession to knot the score at 56-56, then, following a Washington State turnover, Tobin put the Devils up 59-56 with a 3-point play.

The Cougars (5-10, 0-4 Pac-10) would get within one, 59-58, on a layup by Jazmine Perkins with 2:08 remaining. ASU's next two possessions resulted in a missed shot and a turnover, giving the Cougars a couple chances to take the lead. However the Sun Devils would respond defensively on both Washington State possessions then would extend their lead to 61-58 after a layup by Orsillo with 31 seconds left. Washington State was unable to tie the game on its ensuing possession and Orsillo hit three free throws in the last eight seconds to ice the win.

"Washington State has been in every conference game it has played and I think it is going to be that kind of year in the Pac-10 where a lot of games are decided in the last couple minutes of the game," Turner Thorne said following the game.

Early on it did not appear that ASU was going to need any late game heroics to get the win. The Sun Devils used a 9-0 run in the first half to take a 27-17 lead with just under three minutes remaining. Watson and Murphy scored eight points each to help the Sun Devils to a 32-24 halftime lead.

Tobin hit a layup 20 seconds into the second half as ASU matched its largest lead of the game, 34-24, before Washington State responded with a 21-7 run over the next nine minutes to take a 45-41 lead.

April Cook (11 points) and Perkins (10 points) combined for 21 point to lead the Cougars, however both players went 5-of-17 from the field.

The Sun Devils return to action on Thursday when they host Oregon at 6:30 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.