ASU Women’s Basketball: Sun Devils fall on buzzer beater against Oregon State

Senior forward Ja’Tavia Tapley hit a jumper with three seconds left, giving the Sun Devils a 62-60 lead over No. 9 Oregon State (19-4, 7-4).

It would appear to be the difference, but the Beavers were far from done. Oregon State quickly answered with back-to-back baskets in the final seconds.

OSU guard Mikayla Pivec hit a push shot with 0.4 seconds, giving the Beavers a 64-62 victory over No. 19 Arizona State (16-7, 6-5) at the buzzer.

Just three weeks prior, the Sun Devils upset the then No. 3 Beavers in Tempe, 55-47. They knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game in Corvallis.

Arizona State came out hot, as they took a 10-point lead early in the contest. They had a 20-13 lead over the Beavers heading into the second quarter and were shooting 57.1 percent from the field and went 4-for-5 from behind the arc. Additionally, the Sun Devil defense held the Beavers to 30.8 percent shooting.

Success continued for ASU throughout the rest of the half, and they went into halftime holding onto a 35-30 lead.

The Beavers were struggling when it came to making shots, while the Sun Devils were thriving. Senior forward Jamie Ruden had eight points in the first half.

It was a constant battle for ASU to maintain its lead in the third quarter. Both teams struggled when it came to shots. The Sun Devils went 3-for-13, while the Beavers were 4-for-14 from the field. There were 23 points total in the third.

Late in the fourth quarter, though, the Beavers started to find their groove. ASU was up 54-46 with six minutes, but after two back-to-back threes and a layup, all from Aleah Goldman, things were tied up with three minutes remaining.

The Beavers were able to fight back and get their revenge on the Sun Devils.

Senior guard Robbi Ryan ended the game with 20 points, while senior guard Reili Richardson added in 11. Tapley finished with 10 points. To add fuel to the fire, ASU was also without senior point guard Kiara Russell, who is day-to-day.

The Sun Devils will head to Eugene to face the No. 3 Oregon Ducks Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. MST.