TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) � With second place and a spot in the Pac-10 semifinals locked up, No. 11 UCLA can look toward the postseason with a week left in the regular season.
Jasmine Dixon had 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Bruins past Arizona State 61-45 on Saturday night for their ninth win in the last 10 games.
Atonye Nyingifa had 15 points and seven rebounds for UCLA (24-3, 14-2). Darxia Morris added 13 points and four assists, and the Bruins outrebounded the Sun Devils 45-30. .
"We need a high seed in the NCAAs," Morris said. "So we have to play hard, keep winning and get that high seed and if we do a good job at Pac-10, get that Pac-10 championship."
Becca Tobin had 10 points and six rebounds to lead third-place Arizona State (17-9, 9-7), which had won three straight. The Sun Devils lead Arizona and Southern California by one game with two games left in the regular season.
"We needed everybody to step up to beat a team of this caliber and we didn't," Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne said. "They got away from being in the moment tonight. I think people were pressing ? the magnitude of the game, of wanting to win for the seniors and being the last home game."
Nyingifa keyed a 17-0 run early the second half after Arizona State had tied it at 28-all with 17:11 remaining. She completed a three-point play, had a layup off a pass from Markel Walker and capped the run that gave UCLA a 45-28 lead with 12:32 left.
"We have to rebound, we are one of the smallest teams in the country, we're way undersized," Dixon said. "We have top hit and pursue. That's our focus. They were getting way too many offensive rebounds which led to second-chance shots. So we had to buckle down and make sure we hit."
Arizona State never got closer than 11 after that decisive 5-minute stretch.
"Our defensive intensity picked up, I thought that was the main thing," UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell said. "They tied it up and then we settled ourselves down and changed up our defensive scheme. Then we did a much better job of pushing the ball back at them off makes and misses."
The Bruins' full-court press was trouble for the Sun Devils, who only shot 30 percent (17 of 56) from the field.
Dixon scored 10 points as UCLA took a 24-21 lead that could have been more lopsided with the Bruins holding a 22-13 advantage in rebounds. However, the Bruins committed 12 turnovers, which Arizona State turned into 12 points to help keep the Sun Devils close.
"What we need to understand is we have to have ball security, especially witht a team like Arizona State, which does a great job of getting after you with their defensive pressure," UCLA coach Nikki Caldwell said.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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