SEATTLE, Wash. -- The Arizona State women's basketball team was eliminated by Washington State 48-41 in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday night.
Janae Fulcher scored a game-high 20 points and Promise Amukamara grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to lead the Sun Devils (13-18, 5-13 Pac-12), who were not able to overcome a 29 percent shooting effort.
Lia Galdeira (17 points) and Dawnyelle Awa (10 points) both scored in double figures for the Cougars (11-19, 6-12 Pac-12), who outscored the Devils 35-23 and shot 48 percent in the second half to erase a five-point halftime deficit.
ASU had one of its best halves of the year on the defensive end in the first half and held Washington State to only 13 points to take an 18-13 lead at the intermission. Fulcher scored eight points in the first half while the Sun Devils held the Cougars to only 22 percent from the floor.
Galdeira would lead Washington State's second-half comeback, scoring 12 of her 17 points over the course of the final 20 minutes.
The turning point of the game came after Fulcher extended ASU's lead to 21-15 in the opening minute of the second half. A jumper by Galdeira ignited a 20-6 run by Washington State over a stretch of 7:29. Galdeira scored 10 of the first 12 points during the run as the Cougars went from being down six to up by eight 35-27 with 11:26 left in the game.
A jumper by Micaela Pickens got the Devils back to within six before the Cougars reeled off six consecutive points to take their largest lead of the game, 41-29, with 7:41 left in the game. ASU would get no closer than eight points until the final minute of regulation.
