Sun Devils ousted by No. 15 UCLA in 2nd round

SEATTLE –Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne and her UCLA counterpart Cori Close agreed on one thing – the decisive first quarter was as well as the Bruins have played all season.

The 15th-ranked Bruins raced out to a 22-point first-quarter lead en route to a 77-68 victory on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament.

The Sun Devils trailed 70-56 with 3:00 remaining but closed to within 72-66 within on two free throws by Robbi Ryan with 30 seconds left before the Bruins closed it out from the free-throw line.

“We beat them in the second quarter, the third quarter, and the fourth quarter – we just dug way too deep of a hole,” Turner Thorne said. “Credit UCLA, they shot lights out and those were not layups. They were 3-pointers, they were jumpers. I mean, they were scoring every which way.”

Arizona State (19-12, 9-9), which finished fifth in the regular-season standings and then defeated Utah 72-54 in the first round of the conference tournament, now must wait on the selection committee for an NCAA Tournament berth.

The Sun Devils, who lost to UCLA 55-52 in the regular-season finale on Sunday, found themselves down 15-2 with 4:12 left in the first quarter. The deficit ballooned to 26-4 before Sophie Brunner hit a 3-pointer to make it 26-7 at the quarter.

Jordin Canada had 10 first-quarter points for UCLA, which made 11 of 16 shots in the period for a blistering 69 percent. The Bruins' pressure defense also forced six first-quarter turnovers and converted them into 13 points.

“I’m really proud of our team,” Close said. “That’s as well as we’ve executed all year in that first quarter. They came out in zone, and a lot of people have been zoning us throughout the year, we put in some new things just recently and we really executed to perfection.”

Arizona State played even in the second quarter and third quarters, trailing 39-21 at the half and 54-40 entering the final period.

“We scored 68 points, that needs to be enough for us,” Turner Thorne said. “We scored 47 points in the second half. That’s a huge positive for us because usually our issue is scoring, not defending.”

Sabrina Haines had 14 points for the Sun Devils and Brunner added 13. Freshman forward Jamie Ruden, who played for the the first time on Thursday against Utah after suffering a foot injury in December, had 12 points in 13 minutes.

“I just found out a couple days ago that I’d be back for the season, so it’s exciting for me to see what I can do to help, especially for the seniors,” said Ruden, who made 4 of 7 shots, including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc.

Canada led the Bruins with 24 points, Monique Billings added 19 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, and Nicole Kornet had 16 points, including 12 in the first half.

Turner Thorne said her team’s comeback effort will help heading into postseason play.

“We come out man (defense) for 40 minutes like we normally do and we score 68 points, we win, easily,” Turner Thorne said. “So, I think that our offense, as we settled down and got going in our perimeter shooting, combined with our inside attack, bringing that into March Madness will be exciting.”

With their third victory this season over the Sun Devils, the Bruins (23-7, 13-5) advanced to Saturday night’s semifinals against top-seeded and sixth-ranked Oregon State (28-3, 16-2), a 65-49 winner over Cal on Friday.

No. 6 Oregon State 65, California 49

Sydney Wiese scored 26 points and No. 6 Oregon State rolled into the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals with a 65-49 win over California on Friday.

Wiese and the Beavers (28-3) won their sixth straight, leading by as many as 16 in the first half and holding off every run by the Golden Bears. It was Oregon State’s second win in a week over California, knocking off the Bears in the regularseason finale by 15.

Mikayla Pivec added 17 points for Oregon State, the top seed in the conference tournament. The Beavers won their first Pac-12 Tournament title a year ago, the precursor to a run to the Final Four. They will face No. 15 UCLA or Arizona State in Saturday’s semifinals.

Kristine Anigwe led California (19-13) with 26 points. The Bears likely needed one more victory to bolster their NCAA Tournament hopes.

Thursday's late results

Alexys Swedlund had a career-best 23 points on 9 of 14 shooting, including four 3-pointers, Caila Hailey scored seven of her career-high 17 points in the fourth quarter and Washington State rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Colorado on Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

No. 15 UCLA 77, ASU women 68 ASU FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PT Brunner 31 3-7 6-6 0-2 1 4 13 Moos 32 1-3 5-6 3-8 1 4 7 Dornstdr 17 2-4 0-0 0-1 0 1 4 Haines 31 4-9 4-4 0-2 2 4 14 Richrdsn 31 3-10 0-1 0-2 7 1 8 Ibis 18 3-5 0-0 1-3 0 2 6 Ruden 13 4-7 2-2 0-0 0 1 12 Goodson 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Russell 9 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 4 0 Ryan 16 1-3 2-3 0-2 2 1 4 Totals 20021-5119-22 6-26 13 22 68 Percentages: FG .412, FT .864. 3-Point Goals: 7-19, .368 (Haines 2-7, Richardson 2-5, Ruden 2-4, Brunner 1-1, Moos 0-1, Russell 0-1) Blocked Shots: None. Turnovers: 10 (Moos 2, Brunner 1, Dornstauder 1, Richardson 1, Ruden 1, Russell 1, Ryan 1) Steals: 4 (Moos 2, Brunner 1, Richardson 1) Technical Fouls: None. UCLA

FG FT Reb Min M-A M-A O-T A PFPTS Billings 36 8-12 3-5 0-11 0 3 19 Burke 33 4-8 3-4 1-4 6 2 12 Canada 35 9-15 4-4 0-4 7 4 24 Hayes 31 1-2 2-2 0-1 0 4 4 Korver 23 0-3 0-0 2-3 2 0 0 Hearn 4 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 Hersler 10 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 0 Kornet 24 5-13 2-2 0-2 1 2 16 Williams 4 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 1 0 Totals 20028-5514-17 5-31 16 17 77 Percentages: FG .509, FT .824. 3-Point Goals: 7-18, .389 (Kornet 4-9, Canada 2-5, Burke 1-1, Hayes 0-1, Korver 0-2) Blocked Shots: 6 (Billings 2, Hersler 2, Hearn 1, Kornet 1) Turnovers: 8 (Hayes 2, Hersler 2, Billings 1, Burke 1, Canada 1, Korver 1) Steals: 4 (Canada 3, Hayes 1) Technical Fouls: None. ASU UCLA A—4,659. Officials—Charles Gonzalez, Michol Murray, Cathi Cornell. 7 26 14 13 19 15 28 — 23 — 68 77