BYU women's basketball goes cold, falls to Sun Devils in OT

A night of celebration for BYU women's basketball ended unceremoniously as BYU fell to ASU in overtime.

"Nothing pretty about that one," said head coach Amber Whiting.

The Cougars were plagued by turnovers once again, notching 20 in their 85-73 loss. They kept the game close throughout regulation but went cold when it mattered most, only scoring two points in overtime with a pair of free throws.

Delaney Gibb posted 25 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and a block to end the night, but also posted five of BYU's 20 turnovers.

The free throw line proved critical for the Cougars to stay in the game, with 17 of their points coming from free throws. They made 81% compared to Arizona State's 65%.

BYU kept pace with ASU to start the game but gave up an 11-2 run before it made their first three-pointer of the game. The Cougars finally broke through with back-to-back-to-back threes to bring it within two and force a timeout from ASU.

The Marriott Center came to life when Brinley Cannon beat the buzzer with a stunning 3-point shot in the corner off an assist from Whiting, taking the Cougars into halftime with a 34-31 lead.

Halftime featured a special presentation to commemorate the retirement of Tresa Spaulding Hamson's jersey, No. 54.

The BYU legend is No. 2 all-time for BYU in points per game at 21.6 and holds the record for field goal percentage at 61%.

Hamson has three daughters who played for BYU as well, including one daughter, Heather Hamson, who's on the team this year. She finished the night with eight points out of the 10 scored by the bench.

"I feel like [Heather] came in and did a really good job tonight," said coach Whiting. "She hasn’t got to play a whole lot this year and she came in and gave us some really good minutes of battle and [was] perfect from the line. I was proud of her for that."

The game picked up after the break with another back-and-forth stretch that would continue into the fourth quarter. Arizona State got to a 6-point lead before BYU climbed back to tie it up at 62 a piece.

BYU went on to have a 9-4 run off several great plays from Gibb, including a steal and an assist to Lauren Davenport.

With a 5-point lead and a minute left in regulation, the Cougars let the game slip away with an improbable three-pointer from ASU's Makayla Moore and a pair of made free-throws from Tyi Skinner to tie it up. A sloppy possession on offense from BYU in the last twelve seconds sent the game to overtime.

Halfway through the five-minute overtime, Gibb made a free throw.

In that same stretch, ASU managed to score nine unanswered points. The wall of points the Sun Devils stacked proved insurmountable for the Cougars, ending the night with only another free throw made to fill the stat line.

In a night celebrating the legacy of one star from BYU's basketball team, what will this BYU team's legacy be at the end of the season?

"That they're fighters," said coach Whiting. "I still believe in them every single game. I believe that we can still get the next two [games] and give us momentum going into the [Big 12] tournament. That's just who I am. I always look at it that way.

"I hope that people look at this team and know they're scrappy and that they love to fight, and that they're scared to play us because of that," Whiting added.

BYU hopes to bounce back against Kansas on Senior Night, Feb. 25.