TEMPE, Ariz. - An intense matchup against BYU hands Arizona State its eighth loss of the season on senior night.

“It was definitely a tale of two halves,” head coach Molly Miller said. “I thought we were tougher, more aggressive, and put the other team on their heels the first half. And then they were tougher, more aggressive and put us on our heels the second half.”

BYU (19-10, 8-9 Big 12) started the night off offensively slow due to the strong defense from ASU (22-8, 9-8 Big 12) on Wednesday, Feb. 25.  The Sun Devils held the Cougars at a 13 point advantage to start the second half, but that changed after BYU found its spark as a team in the second half. 

After being up one at the end of the first quarter, ASU came out in the second quarter ready to dominate with aggressive defense. Sophomore forward Heloisa Carrera alone put up six points in three minutes of play time.

However, the Sun Devils' momentum slowly began to fall apart, costing them the match 66-61. 

The Cougars relied on 3-pointers to keep them up to pace with ASU. BYU scored five major 3-pointers in the third quarter to send its fans into a frenzy. 

Sophomore guard Delany Gibb drilled a shot at the buzzer of the third quarter, giving the Cougars a four-point lead to begin the last 10 minutes of the match. 

“I feel like the message to us was just continue doing what we are doing defensively and shots are going to fall offensively, and that got us motivated,” Gibb said. “That is what led to our success in the second half.”

Gibb led the BYU squad in scoring, finishing with 24 points and seven rebounds. 

In the fourth quarter, junior forward McKinna Brackens attempted to keep ASU within striking distance of the Cougars, adding nine points in the frame. 

 Brackens ended the match with 16 points and five rebounds, leading the Sun Devils in points. 

Slowly, towards the end of the game, BYU fans began to take over Desert Financial Arena. 

“Tremendous environment, tremendous game of college basketball, tremendous grit and resilience from our group tonight,” Cougars head coach Lee Cummard said. “Just a good college basketball game with runs back and forth.” 

The two teams last faced each other in Provo, Utah, where ASU lost its first game of the season after beginning the season 15-0.

The Sun Devils have one remaining matchup of the season before the Big 12 tournament begins, facing No. 20 Texas Tech on the road Sunday, March 1, at 1 p.m. MST. Miller believes her team is a “march-ready” team.

“This team is a ‘March’ team because of the players we have, the style we have and the wins we have had in the non-conference and some of those bubble teams that we have played against in the Big 12,” Miller said.