SEATTLE — The tough times keep coming for the Huskies.
For a third straight game, the Washington women’s basketball team was in a close game it had a chance to win, and for the third straight game, the Huskies came up short, this time in the form of a 68-62 loss to Arizona State Thursday night at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
In their last three games — losses to Oregon State, Oregon and the Sun Devils — the Huskies have been outscored by a total of 12 points.
Against the Sun Devils, Washington struggled to make shots in the first half, and struggled to rebound all night.
Arizona State built a six-point halftime lead despite 14 turnovers largely because the Huskies shot just 26.7 percent. The Sun Devils protected that lead thanks to 17 offensive rebounds and a 37-26 rebounding advantage.
“A disappointing loss,” Washington coach Tia Jackson said. “But I think any time you give a team 17 offensive rebounds, a good team, they’re going to score on every other one, and that’s just the way it is. They’re a solid team that has balanced scoring all around. If anything hurt us, that was the biggest thing right there.”
After a back and forth first half, Arizona State extended the lead late in the half, then threatened to blow the game open when it built a nine-point lead at the 14:39 mark of the second half.
Not long after that, Jackson subbed for all five of her players on the floor — something she last did against Ohio State last month — hoping to find players who would rebound.
“Honestly, I got pissed,” Jackson said. “Nobody was boxing out. So I said in the huddle, ‘Anybody want to box out?’ You saw them raise their hands and I said, ‘You five go in.’ I don’t care if it was five guards.”
After a couple more hockey-style line changes — unfortunately Washington did not have a goalie to pull to give it a sixth offensive threat — the Huskies started to chip away at the lead. But every time UW got close, Arizona State had an answer.
The Huskies then fought back to make it a five-point game with 3:41 left, but Reagan Pariseau made another three and the Huskies never got closer than seven points until the final seconds.
Kirsten Thompson, a former McDonald’s All-American from Monroe, played just nine minutes, finishing with two rebounds and one block. Morton, a freshman also from Monroe, was the better of the former Bearcats on this night, posting career highs of six point and four assists in just 12 minutes. Morton, who did not play in Washington’s past four games, had just 14 points and four assists this season before Thursday.
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com ?huskiesblog ARIZONA ST. (6-2, 12-7)
Murphy 4-6 3-3 11, Dosty 4-6 0-2 8, Simon 1-4 0-0 2, January 2-7 4-5 9, Noe 0-3 3-4 3, Pariseau 2-5 2-2 8, Engelbrecht 0-0 2-2 2, Thompson 0-2 0-0 0, Fage 0-0 0-0 0, Tobin 2-3 1-2 5, Lacey 8-14 3-8 20. Totals 23-50 18-28 68.
WASHINGTON. (2-6, 7-13)
Redmon 3-10 2-2 8, Plouffe 9-12 1-2 19, Florence 1-4 1-1 4, Whitcomb 2-10 0-0 4, Mosiman 3-6 1-2 7, McLellan 1-2 1-2 3, Bennett 3-3 1-2 9, Morton 3-3 0-0 9, McNeill 1-4 0-0 2, Augustavo 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 7-11 62.
Halftime—ARIZONA ST. 26-20. 3-Point Goals—Arizona St. 4-13 (Pariseau 2-4, Lacey 1-1, January 1-4, Simaon 0-1, Noe 0-3), Washington. 3-11 (Bennett 2-2, Florence 1-1, Redmon 0-1, Whitcomb 0-4, Augustavo 0-3). Fouled Out—Arizona St: Dosty. Rebounds—Arizona State 37 (Lacey 8), Washington 26 (Redmon 6). Assists—Arizona St. 14 (January 5), Washington 10 (Morton 4). Total Fouls—Arizona St. 19, Washington 24. A—2,314.
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