ASU women's basketball (4-1) fought off a slow start but ultimately fell to No. 9 UCLA (2-1) 63-59 on Sunday afternoon in Tempe.
The Sun Devils had a chance to tie or take the lead when they trailed 61-59 in the final minute of the game. However, freshman guard Maggie Besselink turned the ball over with 14 seconds left in the game.
ASU was then forced to foul on the other end, but UCLA nailed its ensuing pair of free throws to secure the victory.
Besselink, who made her collegiate debut Sunday after missing the first four games of the season with an injury, was trusted with the ball at a key moment in the game. ASU coach Charli Turner Thorne mentioned that Besselink was probably moving too fast at that moment.
"She probably rushed it a little bit," Turner Thorne said. "I thought she had an amazing first outing for a kid that has been out for three months and has practiced for like 20 minutes."
Besselink said after the game she was "very nervous, but my team helped me through it."
The Sun Devils fell behind 22-11 after the first quarter and trailed by as much as 17 points at one point in the second quarter.
Turner Thorne cited mental and physical fatigue as the main reason her team came out slow on Sunday.
"I'm just going to remind everybody that this was our third game in seven days for our finals week," Turner Thorne said. "We just weren't on the same page offensively."
But ASU came into the second half locked in, winning the third quarter 21-12 thanks to an improvement in the team's execution and aggressiveness.
Freshman forward Katelyn Levings was instrumental in ASU's comeback, scoring seven of her nine points in the third quarter. Levings said after the game that the team's comeback was a product of the team's heart.
"At halftime, we just had to take a deep breath and not look at the scoreboard, and just play this as if it was 0-0," Levings said. "We're super excited. I think we can go anywhere our mind takes us."
Sophomore forward Eboni Walker, who finished with a team-high 12 points, mentioned after the game that she was proud of her team's resilience, even in a loss.
"That's just our team, that's our character. We are aggressive no matter what the deficit may be," Walker said.
Walker believes that if the team can tighten up some of its mistakes on the margins, it should remain competitive against the elite teams in the Pac-12.
"We have heart, we have pride," Walker said. "We're this close. If we just crack down on the little things, then we're there."
Turner Thorne said that even with the team suffering its first loss of the season, she still feels great about the Sun Devils' outlook as they get deeper into Pac-12 play.
"I've been touting this team and the talent they have for quite a while, and it's fun to show people. Imagine when we get more time together and really evolve," Turner Thorne said. "This team has a great vibe. This team plays hard and really cares about each other."
ASU will look to bounce back on Dec. 10 against in-state rival No. 7 UA in Tucson at 4 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at ltochter@asu.edu and follow @Leo_Toch on Twitter.
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