TEMPE, Ariz. -- For the second time in as many games, the Arizona State women's basketball team nearly overcame a double-digit deficit only to fall short in the end, with Sunday's result a 67-60 setback against USC.
Sunday's game was the final home game for ASU seniors Janae Fulcher and Micaela Pickens. Both players set or tied career highs, as Fulcher scored 17 points and had a career-best 13 rebounds while Pickens added eight points and tied her career high in rebounds with nine. Promise Amukamara added 10 points for the Sun Devils (13-17, 5-13 Pac-12), who were able to get within four points of the Trojans on four occasions in the second half but could not get any closer.
Ariya Crook (13 points), Christina Marinacci (13 points), Cassie Harberts (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Kiki Alofaituli (11 points) all scored in double figures for the USC (10-19, 7-11 Pac-12), which scored more than a third of their points at the free-throw line by going 25 for 31 as a team.
The Trojans used a pair of 7-0 runs in the first half to help build a 29-16 lead, and they went into the locker room leading 34-23. USC would extend the lead to 13 after Alofaituli's jumper less than 30 seconds into the second half.
In the first meeting between the two schools on Jan. 25 in Los Angeles, the Sun Devils came back from 16 down in the second half to claim a 60-53 win. Midway through the second half Sunday, it appeared that they were on their way to overcoming another double-digit deficit after a 14-5 run got them within four at 41-37 with 9:53 left. It was one of three times the Devils would get within four over the ensuing three-plus minutes, but each time they were unable to come up with another score to make it a one-possession game.
USC would slowly build its advantage back up to 10 before one last ASU rally, capped by Pickens' three-point play, cut the margin to four at 64-60,. It would prove to be too little, too late, though, as USC made three free throws in the final 18 seconds to seal the win.
The Sun Devils will enter this week's Pac-12 tournament at KeyArena in Seattle as the No. 9 seed. They open tournament play Thursday at 6 p.m. when they take on Washington State, the No. 8 seed. The winner of that game will face top-seeded Stanford in the quarterfinals on Friday at 6 p.m.
