Jalyn Brown did something no other ASU women's player has done this century

The Arizona State women's basketball team came into the season looking for improvement. The Sun Devils went 8-20 overall and 1-17 in Pac-12 play in last season with an unusual number of injuries factoring in. They started Pac-12 play this season already having matched that win total, despite losing last year's leading scorer Tyi Skinner to an injury before the season started.

With five Pac-12 teams ranked in the top 15 and two others receiving votes, wins in the conference are going to be hard to come. There were some moral victories in the most recent outing as the Sun Devils lost to No. 5 Colorado 81-68 Sunday afternoon at Desert Financial Arena.

It was the seventh straight win for the Buffs, whose only loss was to No. 3 North Carolina State.

ASU (8-7, 0-3) led 18-17 with 2:45 left in the first quarter but Colorado (13-1, 3-0) used a 26-2 run to take the lead for good.

Second-year coach Natasha Adair is looking for small victories wherever she can find them. Sophomore Jalyn Brown was the bright spot Sunday, tallying a career-high 35 points, more than twice her season average of 14.4. It marked the most points by an ASU player in a game this century. She also had five rebounds, four assists a steal and a block.

ASU trailed by as many as 28 points in the first half and was able to cut 10 points off that deficit late in the fourth quarter. The Sun Devils outscored the visitors 43-31 in the second half. It was a noteworthy accomplishment against a foe whose resume this season includes a win over reigning national champion LSU.

"I want to talk about just the fight of the group," Adair said. "I challenged out team at halftime just to fight and they responded. Just really proud of this group and how we're building and the chemistry we're building and their growth from day to day, game to game. It's not the outcome we wanted because every game we play we want to win. But understanding as their coach sitting in this seat, there's a process. I know we're all so used to instant, by click of a button. But it doesn't work that way. We know every day what we emphasize, how hard they have been working."

Adair found plenty of other highlights too. Colorado standout Aaronette Vonleh registered 20 points, but the Sun Devils held her to two in the second half. Colorado got nine points out Jalyn Sherrod but that was under her average with Adair crediting the defense of Jaddan Simmons.

ASU's Trayanna Crisp was injured earlier in the week against Utah and it looked like she might not be available for this one. Not only did she play, she scored 12 points.

"The more you stack small victories, the quicker you can get to the big victory," Adair said.

Brown, in her first year in the program after transferring from Louisville, says her team was just focused on each play and not the early deficit.

"I don't worry about the score," she said. "I take it play by play. There's no 28-point shot so just understanding, time and score, got to get a stop. On next possession what are going to do on offense. And to keep poised. Just don't stress, take your time and will get it back on the back end. Just to trust my teammates and my coach."

There were some good moments earlier in the week as well. Friday ASU lost to No. 15 Utah 58-41 but in doing so held the Utes (11-4, 1-2) to their lowest shooting percentage and lowest point total on the season.

And this comes with ASU still shorthanded. Not only is Skinner out, so are Maggie Besselink, Treasure Hunt and Morasha Wiggins.

For now, there is such a thing as moral victories.

"For this to be the No. 5 team in the country. We came out as a team that didn't do too well last year, we're improving every day and just to see the growth is honestly cool to watch. When you're involved in it as well with a good coach, it's not as hard as you think it is. So it's important for us to stay together and continue to build week by week."

Next up for the Sun Devils is a road trip to the Pacific Northwest with a game at Oregon on Friday and Oregon State on Sunday.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Jalyn Brown scores 35 as ASU women hold their own in loss to No. 5 Colorado