Late Rally Falls Just Short In 72-68 Loss at No. 22 Arizona State

Sunday, February 16

Tempe, AZ

11:00 AM

University of Washington

11-14,3-11Pac12

Arizona State

18-8,8-6Pac-12

Washington

Arizona St.

Photo by: Brian Morse / Washington Athletics

Late Rally Falls Just Short In 72-68 Loss at No. 22 Arizona State

February 16, 2020 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

TEMPE, Ariz. --- Amber Melgoza scored a game-high 18 points and fueled a late rally by Washington but it fell short as the Huskies lost 72-68 at No. 22 Arizona State on Sunday afternoon in Tempe.

Washington (11-14, 3-11 Pac-12) trailed by 11 points at different points in the second half and was down by nine with 3:28 left. But the Huskies would mount a strong comeback, pulling within two with 15 seconds left before falling by four to the Sun Devils (18-8, 8-6 Pac-12).

UW shot 50% in the game—its second-best shooting game of the season—and outplayed Arizona State in nearly every aspect of the contest. However, the key stats turned out to be offensive rebounds and second-chance points as the Sun Devils held a 16-8 edge on the offensive glass and a commanding 20-0 advantage in second-chance points.

Melgoza scored 10 of the Huskies' last 12 points in the game and finished with 18 on the night. Her last basket tied her with Karen Deden for 12th on the UW all-time scoring list. She is 16 points out of 11th place and 80 away from moving into the top 10.

Darcy Rees scored 10 points for the second-straight game, connecting on 4-of-7 from the field and adding a pair of blocks and two assists. Missy Peterson had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, adding three assists.

UW led 9-8 after a fast-paced first five minutes of the game which saw no stoppages until the media timeout at 4:44. But out of that timeout, the Sun Devils rattled off seven-straight points to take a commanding 15-9 and took an 18-10 lead into the first quarter break.

ASU opened the second quarter with a bucket to go up 10, but the Huskies responded four minutes later. Alexis Griggsby drained a three-pointer to start the mini-run with T.T. Watkins getting a bucket to make it a 23-19 game at the 5:28 mark. After exchanging buckets, the Sun Devils would slowly stretch the lead back to eight and thanks to a three at the buzzer, led 34-26 at half.

The Huskies got a free throw from Rees to open the third quarter, but saw ASU rattle off a quick four-point run to take its largest lead of the game at 38-27 with 8:27 to go. The teams went back and forth the next two minutes, but the Huskies mounted a charge with an 11-5 run over the next three minutes to close to 47-42 with 2:51 remaining. Neither team scored much the rest of the quarter with the Sun Devils leading 50-44 after three.

Arizona State returned still led by nine after a three-point play the 8:20 mark when the Huskies mounted a charge. Peterson hit a nice layup, then drained a three-pointer with 7:17 left to go to make it a four-point game. After a bucket by ASU, Rees hit a three in transition to as Washington made it a three-point game at 57-54 with 6:04 to play. But the Sun Devils would stretch the lead back to nine on the strength of a 10-4 run over the next two minutes with seven of those coming as second-chance points.

The Huskies mounted one final charge as Haley Van Dyke hit a layup followed by a stop and bucket from Melgoza to make it 67-62 with 54 seconds left. Arizona State would make just one of two free throws on the other end and Melgoza quickly scored on the other end to bring it within four. Once again, ASU made just one of two free throws and once again Melgoza scored on the other end with a pair of free throws, brining the Huskies to within three with 20 seconds to go. Again, the Sun Devils could convert just one of two free throws and Melgoza would go downhill to get a quick bucket and make it 70-68 with 15 seconds left.

Washington would once again foul, but this time the Sun Devils made both free throws to stretch the lead back to four and the Huskies would not convert on the other end as Arizona State held on for the win.

The Huskies return home for their final two games of the season this week, hosting USC on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The game will be Washington's annual Breast Cancer Awareness game with all fans encouraged to wear pink to the game.