Women's basketball falls short against Washington State
Jazmine Perkins scored 16 points, including a key 3-pointer late, to lead Washington State to a 70-65 decision Thursday over Arizona State in Pac-10 play.
Dymond Simon had 19 points and Tenaya Watson had 14 points, five assists and three steals for Arizona State, which has lost three of the last four.
The Sun Devils (11-5, 3-3 Pac-10) rallied from a 55-46 deficit with 7:51 left to get within 60-58 with 1:36 remaining on Alex Earl's 3-pointer from the corner. But Perkins made the fourth of her 3-pointers with 1:51 left to put the Cougars up 63-58.
Watson hit two free throws with 33 seconds remaining to get the Sun Devils within 66-63.
But Sage Romberg hit three of four throws in the final 32 seconds to help secure the win for Washington State (5-14, 3-4).
Ireti Amojo hit four 3-pointers, scoring 16 points and adding three assists and two steals, for Washington State, which has won three of its last four after losing seven in a row.
The Cougars went on a 11-2 run midway through the second half to break a 44-44 tie getting its largest lead after Amojo hit her third 3-pointer following a pair of missed free throws by April Cook.
The Cougars came into the game as the conference's second-worst shooting team (38 percent) but made 25-of-47 (53 percent) on Thursday and was giving up the second-most points a game in the Pac-10 (74.2 points a game). But Washington State's zone defense kept Arizona State to 38 percent shooting (22-of-58). The teams combined for 44 turnovers.
The Cougars hit all four of their 3-point attempts in the first to open up a 31-22 lead until Arizona State scored the last seven points of the half to cut the lead to 33-29 at the break. The teams combined for 25 turnovers in a back-and-forth half.
Washington State won its second straight against Arizona State, having broken a 13-year drought in Tempe in the teams' last meeting, a Cougars' 66-62 win on Feb. 6, 2010, during which Cook scored 33 points. She scored four on Thursday