As graduate center Nevaeh Parkinson converted another jump shot to put ASU up with just over four minutes left in the first half, the atmosphere in Desert Financial Arena was intense.
In the first quarter and a half of The Territorial Cup, the intense rivalry lived up to its billing. The Sun Devils and Wildcats traded blows through the first 15 minutes with Parkinson’s bucket putting ASU ahead by two, 28-26.
"Sun Devil Nation showed up, senior night always gives those emotions," said ASU head coach Natasha Adair. "Playing (UA), there's an added edge with that game as well."
Following Parkinson's basket, UA showed why they haven’t lost to the Sun Devils since Feb. 11, 2022. The Wildcats ended the first half on an 11-1 run and continued that into the second half outscoring the Sun Devils 22-15 in the third quarter and leading by 15 points heading into the final frame.
UA kept ASU at arm’s length for the rest of the contest, holding off the Sun Devils' comeback efforts. The Wildcats brought their offensive pressure with redshirt senior forward Isis Beh with 15 points, freshman guard Lauryn Swann with 18 points and sophomore guard Jada Williams with 13 points.
"When we play our best, we have more balanced scoring," said UA head coach Adia Barnes. "So three players in double digits and three players in almost double digits, that's good, but when we've played our best games, we've had that."
Though the Sun Devils had difficulty keeping pace offensively, they didn’t pack things up early. ASU was able to cut the lead to just 11 points with about seven minutes to play but ran out of gas and couldn’t complete the senior night comeback.
The Wildcats were able to outlast the Sun Devils, capping a disappointing end to the ASU regular season finishing 9-21 overall and 3-15 in the Big 12.
Numerous factors have played into the Sun Devils' struggles over the course of the regular season. Tonight, injuries and defense seemed to be what sunk the ship.
"One for us is just staying healthy," Adair said. "But two, it’s that defensive consistency ... Putting together 40 full minutes, we'll have really good moments and then we'll just have some defensive lapses, but it's not for a lack of will and want to."
Multiple players were out with injuries, including junior guards Makayla Moore and Kennedy Fauntleroy. Meanwhile, junior forward Kennedy Basham and sophomore guard Jyah LoVett battled through injuries in the loss. Adair described the team as the "wounded warriors."
This performance means the team will start the Big 12 tournament as underdogs. Starting on March 5, ASU will likely enter the tournament as the No. 15 seed, sitting at 15th out of the 16 Big 12 teams.
"Just clean up on the little things," said graduate guard Tyi Skinner. "Rebounds, kickouts, the loose ball, some layups we might have missed ... We are looking to clean that up as we go into the tournament."
Edited by Henry Smardo, Sophia Ramirez and Katrina Michalak.
Reach the reporter at mseal6@asu.edu and follow @masonseal23 on X.
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Mason is a freshman studying sports journalism. This is his second semester with The State Press. He has also worked for Inferno Intel and WCSN.
