Published: Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 11:33 p.m. MST
TEMPE, Ariz. â€" The Utes lost for the fifth time in seven games as 21 turnovers and shooting 35 percent from the field weren't enough on the road in a 59-51 loss to Arizona State on Saturday.
Michelle Plouffe had 15 points and seven rebounds for Utah (9-9, 2-5). Janita Badon added 12 points and eight assists, while Taryn Wicijowski had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Kali Bennett had 12 points, nine rebounds and a school-record-tying seven blocked shots to lead Arizona State.
Deja Mann had 17 points and Kimberly Brandon added 12 for the Sun Devils (13-5, 4-3 Pac-12), who have won three straight after losing three in a row. Bennett tied the blocked-shot record set by Kym Hampton against Washington on Jan. 19, 1981.
The Sun Devils opened the second half with an 8-1 run to take go on top 30-20. The Utes missed their first six shots after the break and four minutes into the second half were 8 of 39 from the field.
Utah got within four points after Badon made a steal and found Plouffe for a jumper to cut the lead to 43-39 with 6:47 to play. However, Utah coach Anthony Levrets thought Plouffe had also been fouled on the play, and was called for a technical foul, leading to two Sun Devils free throws by Mann. She hit a 3-pointer on the subsequent posession and Arizona State held on.
Bennett had six points and six blocked shots in the first half as Arizona State took a 22-19 lead at the break.
The Utes missed 14 of their 23 shots in the first 20 minutes but outrebounded the Sun Devils 24-15 to stay close.
It was the first meeting in nearly six years between the schools, the last being Utah's 86-65 win over Arizona State in the second round of the 2006 NCAA tournament.
UTAH STATE 91, NEVADA 69: At Logan, Devyn Christensen produced 22 points while Ashlee Brown had 12 and seven boards as the Aggies held a 52-24 advantage in the paint and 39 points from the bench while Nevada's reserves managed 15.
SUU 80, IPFW 68: At Cedar City, the Thunderbirds snapped an eight-game losing-streak and earned their first Summit League victory of the year even though leading scorer Hailey Mandelko left the game in the first half after colliding with a defender.
Fellow starting guard DJ Norman picked up the slack with a career-high 22 points.
The T-Birds (5-14, 1-7) started the night 3-for-3 from the floor to record the first six points of the ballgame. Norman, Mandelko and Carli Moreland all collected early baskets to help SUU claim the 6-0 lead.
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