Reili Richardson came clutch once again for the Arizona State women’s basketball team as the Sun Devils overcame a sloppy performance to defeat USC 76-75 in triple overtime and give coach Charli Turner Thorne win No. 500 as a Division I head coach.

The milestone gave Turner Thorne the chance to reflect on the people who have helped her throughout her career at both NAU and ASU.

“If your relationships are good, you're good,” Turner Thorne said. Relationships aren't good, you're not good. And when you reach a milestone like this, it gives you a chance to just really appreciate all the relationships that I've had through college basketball.”

ASU guard Robbi Ryan and forward Iris Mbulito spoke on how much their coach means to them.

“She's a great person on the court and off the court…,” Ryan stated. “She really cares about us and everything we do in life and so I'm really thankful I have her as my coach.”

“She’s like my mother here in America so I just appreciate everything she does for us…,” Mbulito, a native of Spain, said. “And she's an amazing coach.”

It was not a clean game to say the least for No. 19 ASU, now 16-5 overall and 6-3 in the Pac-12. The Sun Devils turned the ball over a whopping 26 times in the game. They needed yet another fourth-quarter clutch performance from Richardson to get the job done against the Trojans, now 11-9 overall and 3-6 in the conference.

Richardson dropped a career-high 24 points, 17 of which came after the 1:39 mark in the fourth quarter. The senior guard also added five assists, three rebounds, and two steals in 40 minutes.

With the Sun Devils trailing by two points in the third overtime, Richardson found a way to get open for three and hit the game-winning three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left to give ASU the win.

Richardson said she is great late in games because it gives her a “burst of energy.”

“I'm like, okay, we need to take this game,” Richardson said. “That also helps our team too because we have a lot of energy after that.”

The first quarter started somewhat ugly for the Sun Devils. ASU turned the ball over six times in the first six minutes. However, the Sun Devils were able to lead 13-9 at the end of the first by forcing 10 USC turnovers in the first period. Seven of the 10 USC first-quarter turnovers were ASU steals.

The second quarter was more of the same with both teams trading turnovers but ASU’s 7-12 second-quarter shooting allowed the Sun Devils to take a 12-point lead with 2:15 remaining. After an Angel Jackson jump shot and two Endyia Rogers’ free-throws cut the lead to eight, ASU went to halftime with a 28-20 lead. The Sun Devils ended up forcing 16 USC first-half turnovers while turning the ball over 13 times themselves in the first half.

ASU went cold in the third quarter, shooting 5-15 from the field but two Ryan jumpers late in the quarter allowed ASU to narrowly lead, 40-36, heading to quarter No. 4.

The fourth quarter started as a continuation of the third for the Sun Devils. The Trojans started 2-3 while ASU started just 1-4. A Kayla Overbeck layup with 8:23 to play gave USC the lead at 43-42. It was the first USC lead since the 3:03 mark in the first quarter. ASU quickly regained the lead and extended it to 46-43 with 4:14 to play in the fourth.

USC proceeded to go on a 6-0 run to take the lead 49-46 with 1:56 left before Richardson converted a clutch three-point play to tie the game. On ASU’s next possession, Richardson put the Sun Devils back on top , 51-49, with 0:46 to play in the fourth.

However, an Endyia Rogers jumper tied the game with 0:28 to go, giving ASU a chance to get the last shot but Tapley was unable to score a last second layup and the ball went out of bounds in favor of USC. After an official review, the referees put 0.7 seconds on the clock giving USC a chance to try an alley-oop layup. The attempt failed and the game went into overtime.

The first overtime was saved by a Richardson three which bounced on the front of the rim to make the score 57-53 with 2:27 to play in the period. If the shot had not been hit, ASU would have lost 60-57.

In the second overtime, Richardson gave ASU the 68-64 lead with a 1:30 left after converting a three-point play. After USC answered with a Rogers three, Richardson made 1-2 free throws, making the score 69-67 heading to the final seconds of the period. USC’s Kayla Overbeck then made a layup as time expired to send the game to a third overtime.

A back and forth third overtime culminated in the Richardson three and ASU was able to come away with yet another Pac-12 victory.

“I'm a big believer any close, one possession game just makes you tougher,” Turner Thorne stated. “It just helps you learn how to take games and find a way so I almost think sometimes those games are more valuable than when you put a team away and you end up winning by 15 or whatever because your shots fall.“

The game was the first time ASU women’s basketball has played a triple-overtime contest in the over 40-year history of the program.

ASU plays No. 8 UCLA on Sunday at noon MST.