Arizona State women’s basketball fell just short of a Pac-12 victory yet again on Sunday as the Sun Devils (7-12, 0-10 Pac-12) lost 55-53 to Washington (11-9, 3-7 Pac-12) at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.

“It’s just getting closer and closer and closer, said ASU head coach Natasha Adair. “... I thought we were super aggressive coming out in the first half, and that was something we had talked about. We had talked about putting foul pressure on. And then I just think that we got a little laxed in the third.”

ASU played well in the game but was not consistent enough to put the Huskies away. The Sun Devils put together a strong first quarter, scoring 19 points and forcing six UW turnovers. They led 19-14 after one. However, 19 points was all ASU could muster up in the second and third quarters combined. The Sun Devils were just 3-of-11 (27.3%) in the second and were a measly 2-of-14 (14.3%) in the third. UW took a 43-38 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth, ASU suddenly found its rhythm again. The Sun Devils’ leading scorer on the season, Tyi Skinner, who was plagued by foul trouble in the first half, exploded for all 11 of her points in the period. Her jump shot with 5:30 left gave the Sun Devils their first lead since early in the third quarter. UW proceeded to score six straight points to go up 53-49 with 2:32 left. Skinner halted the run with another jump shot to put ASU down 53-51 with 2:13 left. After the teams traded missed shots, UW’s Hannah Stines laid the rock in with 1:16 left.

Stines’ layup proved to be all the Huskies needed for the rest of the matchup, as ASU could only bring the game within two. Trailing 55-53 after a Jaddan Simmons layup with 0:43 left, the Huskies’ Dalayah Daniels was whistled for an offensive foul. ASU received the ball with 0:21 left but could not capitalize on the other end as Simmons missed two shots that would have tied the game.

A couple of factors critical in ASU’s loss were the Sun Devils’ inability to keep pace with UW’s rebounding and ASU’s deficit in points in the paint. At the half, both teams had 17 rebounds. At the end of the game, the Huskies led in the category 41-30. UW outscored the Sun Devils 44-26 in points in the paint.

It will be a hard road trip for ASU next weekend at the Los Angeles schools. No. 8 UCLA is 17-5 and 6-4 in the Pac-12. USC is 16-5 and 6-4 in the Pac-12. ASU will start the trip with the Trojans at 8 p.m. MST on Friday and conclude the trip with the Bruins at 1 p.m. MST on Sunday. The Sun Devils’ next best chance to win a Pac-12 contest is Feb. 10 at home against Cal. Cal had just one Pac-12 victory entering Sunday.