UCLA's Pauley Pavilion can be painfully unkind to those who visit throughout the women's basketball season. Friday night, that visitor was ASU.
The Bruins entered the game with 23 straight home wins and haven't lost in their own building since then-No. 2 South Carolina visited in November 2015.
ASU women's basketball learned that the hard way, as the No. 16 Sun Devils lost another chance at a resume-boosting win, putting up a valiant 40-minute fight but still falling to the No. 13 Bruins on the road by a final score of 69-60.
With the loss, head coach Charli Turner Thorne has begun putting the pressure on her team, which she knows hasn't yet reached its potential.
"Better start playing these games like they're your last game of the year," Turner Thorne said. "Our year is going to be pretty short if we don't start to figure some things out. I'm trying to put a little pressure on them and be more locked in."
The Sun Devils kept things considerably close throughout the game, but it was a run in the second quarter that allowed the Bruins to begin taking control, going up by as many as 16 midway through the period. ASU, however, finished strong to enter the half down just 36-24.
By that point, UCLA's "three-headed monster" of juniors — which includes guards Kelli Hayes and Jordin Canada, and forward Monique Billings — had already made its presence felt.
"I told them we aren't going to let Canada beat us, and we let her beat us," Turner Thorne said. "That right there is the biggest issue with our team right now, they're not doing what we're asking them to do."
Canada and Billings in particular finished with a combined 44 points; Canada led the Bruins with 28 points, while Billings added 16 as well as 10 boards.
UCLA was able to stretch its lead even further in third quarter as a triple by Kari Korver put the Bruins up 47-30 and forced Turner Thorne to call timeout. That lead was cut to nine by the start of the fourth.
"At halftime, I was pretty fired up about it," Turner Thorne said. "I thought we came out and we played a lot harder in the second half so I'm proud of that."
The Sun Devils were once again led by senior forward Sophie Brunner and freshman guard Robbi Ryan. Brunner had a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds while Ryan had 13 points, as well as a triple that pulled ASU within five late in the fourth.
Brunner from under the basket!@Pac12Network https://t.co/s8HNFCeuwe
— Sun Devil WBB (@SunDevilWBB) January 28, 2017
"Obviously Sophie Brunner continues to play like an All-American," Turner Thorne said. "She just needs more help. She just doesn't have a strong enough supporting cast right now."
ASU will look to bounce back against USC Sunday night. The Trojans have struggled to start conference play, but defeated Arizona Friday night by four points at home. Sunday's game is set to tip at 3 p.m. local time at USC's Galen Center.
To win that game and the ones that follow, the Sun Devils know what they have to improve.
"At this point with this team, with what we have right now, 60 points has to be enough to win a basketball game," Turner Thorne said. "In the locker room ... I said, 'You want to win consistently, then defend every possession and rebound your stinkin' butts off.'"
Reach the reporter at jeff.griffith21@asu.edu or follow @Jeff_Griffith21 on Twitter.
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