No. 19 Arizona State outlasts No. 10 Oregon State in 2 OTs
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — The postgame celebration had to wait after Arizona State's first win over a Top-10 opponent in five tries this season.
The 19th-ranked Sun Devils hastily packed their bags after they outlasted No. 10 Oregon State 79-76 in double overtime on Sunday. The extra time on the court put them in danger of missing their flight, and they did their postgame interviews by phone on the team bus en route to the Portland airport.
Kianna Ibis had 28 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks for Arizona State, and Reili Richardson added 16 points, including nine in the overtime periods. Richardson made three of four free throws down the stretch to seal the upset for the Sun Devils (13-5, 4-3 Pac-12), who handed the Beavers their first Pac-12 loss.
"We just kept saying, 'We're not letting this one go,'" Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne said on the jubilant — and sweaty — team bus.
"Some of us had to get dressed on the bus. We didn't have time to shower," Ibis said.
Defense was the difference between Sunday's game and Arizona State's earlier losses — all by fewer than 10 points — to Oregon, Stanford, Baylor and Louisville. Ibis said the Sun Devils were able to limit the Beavers' penetration in the lane and transition opportunities.
"It feels great to finally win. We knew we could compete with everybody," Ibis said.
Mikayla Pivec had 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Katie McWilliams added 12 points for the Beavers (15-3, 5-1).
Richardson made a layup to tie the game at 66 near the end of the first overtime.
"She's been clutch basically this whole season. She always steps up in big games," Ibis said.
Arizona State led 73-72 with a minute left in the second overtime when Richardson sank a scoop with 33.3 seconds left. Pivec and McWilliams both missed shots that would have tied it in the final 20 seconds.
"Things weren't falling for us like they usually do," McWilliams said.
Oregon State shot 37 percent and went 10 for 27 on 3-pointers, while Arizona State shot 46 percent, including 5 for 17 from long range.
The teams went back in forth the last minutes of the fourth quarter, the first overtime and the second OT.
Ibis made a foul-line jumper with 6.8 seconds remaining in regulation to put the Sun Devils ahead 60-58, but Pivec made a lay-in with 2 seconds left to tie it.
BIG PICTURE
Arizona State: The Sun Devils went 2-2 in a four-game stretch against ranked teams, three of them in the Top 10. Things look a bit easier in the next weeks, but the competition is deep in the Pac-12.
Oregon State: The Beavers had won 13 straight games at Gill Coliseum, where they are now 70-8 since the start of the 2014-15 season.
BEST COAST
The Pac-12 is the best league in the country, Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said, and teams will be well-prepared for the postseason.
"This conference is a war every night. It's uncomfortable. It's beautiful," he said.
UP NEXT
Arizona State: Hosts UCLA on Friday.
Oregon State: At Washington on Friday.
