ASU women can't hold lead, fall to Oregon St.

Published Jan. 12, 2012 10:17 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Arizona State women’s basketball team dropped its third consecutive contest Thursday night, falling at Oregon State 56-51.

Kali Bennett and Jada Blackwell each scored 11 points to lead the Sun Devils (10-5, 1-3 Pac-12), who shot 44 percent for the game but only 30 percent in the second half. Also contributing offensively for the Sun Devils were Janae Fulcher and Olivia Major, who scored eight points each.

Leading 35-30 at the half, the Sun Devils came out and scored the first four points of the second half to take a 39-30 lead. They would lead by nine on two more occasions, the final time coming after a basket by Bennett gave ASU a 44-35 advantage with 13:50 left.

The ASU offense would stall at that point, though, as the Beavers (11-5, 2-3 Pac-12) went on a 17-3 run over the course of 6:39 to take a 52-47 lead following a layup by Earlysia Marchbanks.

A pair of jumpers by Bennett helped get ASU within 52-51 with 4:20 left, but those were ASU’s final points of the game, as the Beavers outscored the Sun Devils 4-0 down the stretch.

Oregon State, which made seven 3-pointers and outrebounded the Sun Devils 37-26, was led by Sage Indendi (11 points) and Marchbanks (10 points).

The Sun Devils fell behind by six in the first four minutes of the game before rallying to tie the score at 9-9 after Blackwell scored on a layup with 12:38 left.

ASU used a 10-3 run late in the first half to take its biggest lead of the game, 33-23. Deja Mann scored all five her points during the run, while Blackwell added a 3-point play and Fulcher scored on a layup.

The Sun Devils were not able to sustain the momentum they had established, though, as the Beavers outscored ASU 7-2 over the final 1:56 to get within 35-30 at the half.

Blackwell (11 points) and Fulcher (8 points) came off the bench to provide the Sun Devils with a lift, as the duo combined for 19 of ASU’s 35 first-half points.

The Sun Devils shot 56 percent in the first half, including 60 percent from beyond the arc, with Major, Blackwell and Mann all connecting from long range.