Sun Devil rally falls short at No. 9 Cal

February 14, 2008

Devanei Hampton had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Ashley Walker sparked a key second-half run that helped No. 9 California finish off its first regular season sweep against Arizona State in nine years with a 70-60 victory Thursday night.<separator></separator>Hampton and Walker dominated the inside and the Golden Bears (22-3, 13-1 Pac-10) overpowered the Sun Devils (16-8, 10-3) to keep their hold on first place in the conference. Cal outrebounded Arizona State 42-29, getting 11 from Walker. That helped lead to 24 second-chance points, overcoming a sloppy night handling the ball as Cal committed 22 turnovers.<separator></separator><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/january_briann00.html"… January</a> had back-to-back steals that led to her own fast-break layups to help Arizona State pull to 42-41 midway through the second half.<separator></separator>Walker then scored five of her 15 points during an 11-0 run that broke open a one-point game and gave the Bears a 53-41 lead. Cal scored six of its points during the run off offensive rebounds.<separator></separator>Natasha Vital added 13 points for the Bears.<separator></separator><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/noe_jill00.html">Jill Noe</a> scored 16 points, January added 12 and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/dosty_sybil00.html">Sy… Dosty</a> had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Arizona State, which had won five straight.<separator></separator>The Sun Devils were swept by Cal for the first time since 1998-99, also losing 64-51 at home on Jan. 17, when Hampton scored a career-high 28 points. Their only other conference loss came against Stanford, which hosts Arizona State on Saturday.<separator></separator>Instead of the Sun Devils trying to keep Stanford from its eighth straight Pac-10 title, it's Cal that has a one-game lead over the Cardinal with four games left in the regular season. The Bears have set a school record for Pac-10 wins and have 15 straight at home. They still have a showdown upcoming at Haas Pavilion on Feb. 23 against the Cardinal, who beat Cal 72-52 in the first meeting.<separator></separator> The Bears fell behind by eight points early before Hampton helped them rally with strong inside play that keyed an 8-0 run late in the first half. Vital's 3-pointer in the final seconds gave Cal a 30-27 lead at the half.