Oregon State
Washington State
Defense Leads Beavers Past Cougars
February 07, 2016 | Women's Basketball
PULLMAN, Wash. – The No. 8/9 Oregon State women's basketball team outscored Washington State 26-11 in the fourth quarter to take a 54-45 win over the Cougars Sunday morning at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Washington.
The victory is the Beavers' 10th in a row, the fifth such streak in school history. The school record for consecutive wins is 14, set in 1982-83.
“This conference is so good and everybody is battle-tested by now,” said Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck. “Washington State brought such an outstanding effort today, and their defense disrupted us for the first three quarters. Our defense is really what kept us in the game. I loved our defensive effort”
The Beavers (20-3, 11-1 Pac-12) held the Cougars (12-11, 3-9) to 31.6 percent shooting. No team has shot better than 35.3 percent against OSU over the course of the team's 10-game winning streak.
Senior Ruth Hamblin scored 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor. She also pulled down seven rebounds and blocked five shots. Junior Sydney Wiese finished with 16 points, including some key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and dished out five assists.
Senior Jamie Weisner matched Wiese's five assists and scored nine points.
The Beavers held a 43-31 edge in rebounds and outscored the Cougars 18-14 on points in the paint. OSU also dished out 16 assists on 18 made field goals.
Oregon State clamped down early, blocking three shots in the first five minutes to take a 7-2 lead into the first media timeout. The defenses would control the first quarter, with OSU taking a 12-8 edge into the second frame.
Washington State would battle back to take the lead three minutes into the second quarter by a score of 15-14. The sides would go back-and-forth for the remainder of the half, with the Cougars heading into the locker room up 24-22.
The Beaver offense came to life to start the second half, as Oregon State hit its first three shots of the third quarter to retake the lead at 28-25. The Cougars would again bounce back, however, using a 9-0 run to go ahead 34-28 heading into the third quarter.
Oregon State started the fourth quarter with back-to-back buckets from Wiese and Weisner to get back within a point, and would take the lead for the first time in the period on a basket from Hamblin with six minutes to play. The Cougars would retake the advantage briefly on the next possession, but a 3-pointer from Wiese would give the edge back to the Beavers. Oregon State would hold the lead from there, going ahead by six on a big 3-pointer from Wiese and hitting late free throws on its way to a nine-point win.
The game was part of the Northwest Rivalry Series, presented by Alaska Airlines.
The Beavers will now return to Corvallis for a string of four consecutive home games, beginning Friday against Colorado.
Tickets for all Oregon State home games can be purchased at BeaverTickets.com or by calling 800-GOBEAVS.
