Stanford edges ASU women's hoops in Pac-10 opener

January 02, 2009

Jillian Harmon scored 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and made a key steal down the stretch to help No. 11 Stanford beat Arizona State 64-61 on Friday night in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.<separator></separator>Kayla Pedersen added 17 points and six rebounds for Stanford (10-3). She hit a free throw with 6 seconds remaining but missed her second attempt, allowing the Sun Devils (8-5) to try a last-second shot that could have tied it. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/simon_dymond01.html">D… Simon</a> was off on a 25-footer, however, and Stanford held on.<separator></separator><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/january_briann00.html"… January</a> scored 21 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range, to lead Arizona State.<separator></separator>Stanford won for the first time this season after trailing at halftime, falling behind 31-24 at the break and 40-26 less than three minutes into the second half.<separator></separator>Arizona State went ahead after Stanford's Jayne Appel picked up her fourth foul with 18:08 left. However, Appel, who averages 14.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, hit five free throws during a 14-0 run that ended with Pedersen's 3-pointer and gave the Cardinal a 56-52 advantage with 4:02 remaining.<separator></separator><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/murphy_kayli01.html">K… Murphy</a> hit a 15-footer with 54 seconds left to give the Sun Devils a 61-60 lead, but Pedersen answered with a drive to the basket with 35 seconds remaining to put Stanford in front for good.<separator></separator>Harmon added a free throw with 19 seconds left.<separator></separator>Appel finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for Stanford, which has beaten the Sun Devils six straight times and 10 of the last 12 meetings.<separator></separator>Simon added 11 points for ASU.