Tempe, Ariz.—January 16, 2010.  After losing the first three conference games, the Arizona State women’s basketball team has come roaring back to even their record, defeating the visiting Oregon State Beavers 56-47 at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Sun Devils’ Danielle Orsillo finished with 20 points; Tenaya Watson added 12 points and Alex Earl contributed 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting.  Becca Tobin, who is averaging 11.3 points per game, finished with no baskets but did grab eight rebounds.  Kimberly Brandon grabbed six rebounds and Kayli Murphy had five boards.  Tobin and Brandon each had five defensive rebounds.  Tobin also had six blocks. 

Oregon State was led by Talisa Rhea, who tied Orsillo as the top scorers of the game with 20 points.  No other player finished with more than seven points, attained by Kirsten Tilleman.  Tilleman, who played the entire 40 minutes, also grabbed eight rebounds.  Haiden Palmer and bench-player Anita Burkick both had six points.  Rhea also pulled down seven boards.  Julie Futch led all players with five assists.  El Sara Greer blocked four shots.

Arizona State played the first half like a tug-o-war match with the Beavers, who came into this game only one game behind the Sun Devils in overall record.  Arizona State was up by eight with 7:36 left, but a 6-0 run by the Beavers closed the gap.  The Sun Devils regained some composure and scored the next four points, only to have Oregon State come back and cut the lead to one with 1:25 left.  Orsillo scored the next four points for Arizona State and the Sun Devils led at the break 24-21. 

In the second half, Arizona State played like they were a ranked team.  The Sun Devils scored 16 points in the paint; scored nine points off of turnovers; and had nine second-chance points.  Arizona State also had nine bench points; six coming from Earl.  The Sun Devils went up 10 with 11:36 left but Oregon State again came back with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to three.  However, Arizona State did not break, as they have in the past few games.  The Sun Devils went on a 17-5 run over the next five minutes to push themselves over the hump and walk away with a nine-point victory.

Arizona State (11-6, 3-3) next plays in-state rival Arizona (9-7, 3-3) on Saturday, January 24 in Tucson.  The game will be televised on FSN; tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 pm MST.

Oregon State (9-6, 1-4) will play at home against the second-best team in the nation, the Stanford Cardinal, on January 21 at 7:00 pm PST.