TEMPE, Ariz. — No. 15 Arizona State’s Briann January admitted that she was a bit awestruck guarding Candice Wiggins in her first game against No. 11 Stanford. But this time around the freshman guard was ready for the challenge. Her team-high 13 points, including four free throws down the stretch, led the Sun Devils to their 13th straight home victory, 62-59, over the Cardinal.

“She’s been doing it all year,” Arizona State coach Charlie Turner Thorne said. “She’s just an amazing talent, and we knew that when we signed her. We’re excited about Briann’s future, that’s for sure.”

Wiggins, who had a game-high 25 points, hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one in the last minute, but January sunk two free throws to put the Sun Devils back up by three — this time for good.

“In the first half I shot a free throw long,” January said. “So after the half, I just shot free throws in warm-ups because I knew it might come down to that.”

The Cardinal (18-6, 12-3 Pac-10) had two chances to send the game into overtime in the last 13.7 seconds. But the team could not convert when Wiggins’ three-pointer smacked off the rim and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude’s desperation attempt fell short.

“We played hard, but we just didn’t do the little things like free-throw shooting,” Wiggins said. “It’s definitely disappointing, but it’s not the end of anything.”

Though the Cardinal lead by as many as five in the second half, the momentum turned in the Sun Devils’ (21-5, 12-4) favor on a January desperation jumper with 1:49 left in the game. With the shot clock expiring, January fell to her left and heaved the ball in from around the free-throw line to put Arizona State up 56-54.

The Cardinal then tied the game and looked to be in control when junior forward Kristin Newlin came down with a rebound with less than a minute to go. But Newlin was whistled for her fifth foul on senior forward Kristin Kovesdy.

“We just worked harder and we wanted it more,” Kovesdy said. “When it came down to the end, we were diving on the floor and getting the rebounds.”

Free-throw shooting proved to be the difference as the Cardinal and Sun Devils split most of the other stats fairly evenly. But from the line, Arizona State shot 94.1 percent for the game, while Stanford hit only 52.6 percent.

“Our free throws were horrendous,” coach Tara VanDerveer said. “I hope it gets people’s attention that they need to be in the gym and work on them. Maybe it will get some people mad.”

Another problem for the Cardinal was production down low. Junior center Brooke Smith scored eight of Stanford’s first 13. But, she picked up her critical fourth foul with 9:16 left in the game, and only had one basket in the second half.

“I think when you lose you need to reflect on [your play] more,” Smith said. “I think we’ll take a lot more out of this than if we won in the last second. They [limited my second-half touches] and I missed some shots I should’ve made.”

The win brings Arizona State within a half game of the Pac-10 lead, and pushes their home win streak to 13 overall and 19 in the regular season. Arizona State last lost at Wells Fargo Arena on Jan. 7, 2005 — appropriately enough to Stanford, 68-57.