No. 21 UCLA women top ASU in OT in Pac 12 opener 81-70

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Emily Bessoir scored 17 points, including two critical 3-pointers in overtime, as fifth-seeded UCLA, which had a 19-point lead midway through the third quarter, turned back 12th-seeded Arizona State 81-70 on Wednesday in a Pac-12 Tournament first-round game.

The Bruins (23-8) face fourth-seeded Arizona, ranked No. 21, in a quarterfinal on Thursday.

Charisma Osborne added 16 points, eight in overtime, for 19th-ranked UCLA, which has won 14 straight over ASU. Kiki Rice had 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals and Londynn Jones scored 12. Osborne has 1,687 points, passing Ann Meyer for 13th on UCLA’s scoring list

It was the fifth overtime game in tournament history and the Bruins have been involved in four of them. UCLA outscored the Sun Devils 19-8 in overtime with Bessoir and Osborne combining for the first 14 points.

Tyi Skinner scored 26 points for the Sun Devils (8-20) and Jaddan Simmons had 17 with 10 rebounds.

UCLA made all five of its shots in the extra session with Bessoir’s two triples, and was 7 of 8 from the foul line. Bessoir’s first 3 made it 69-66 and then Osborne had a steal and a layup. ASU made two free throws but Bessoir hit again. The Sun Devils were 1 of 7 from the field and 6 for 6 from the line in the extra session.

Going into overtime, Arizona State had missed its last seven shots after taking it’s only lead, 62-60, on a 3-pointer by Skinner at the 3:16 mark. UCLA got a tying layup from Rice with 1:28 to play but the Bruins were 2 of 19 from late in the third quarter when a jumper by Jones made it 56-40.

UCLA led 39-25 at the half and a jumper by Gina Conti midway through the third quarter made it 50-31.

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