Oregon State Women's Basketball: Beavers Beat Western Kentucky 80-58

Tiara Bolden and Catalina Ferreira break the 20 point barrier in a big Oregon State win on the road in Hawaii.

John Severs | 4 Hours Ago

Mar 18, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oregon State Beavers mascot Benny Beaver before the first half against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-Imagn Images / Mark D. Smith-Imagn Images

It's been an up and down season for the Oregon State women, but Thursday night at the Maui Classic things swung back to the up column, with the Beavers beating the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 80-58 to move to 4-7 on the season.

The 80 points the offense put up is going to catch a lot of attention, but Thursday night was also a standout performance from the Oregon State defense. Western Kentucky struggled to find an open shot right from the jump. While Sela Heide was limited, Kelsey Rees will still able to lock Western Kentucky out of the post, and unlike other opponents the Beavers have faced this season WKU wasn't able to respond with heavy perimeter shooting. The Hilltoppers only went 10 out of 28 from the three point line. Not terrible, but not enough to catch the Beavers.

Two Beavers in particular fueled the Beavers' offensive explosion. The first was Catalina Ferreira, who had one of her best games as a Beaver. Ferreira led the Beavers in scoring with 26 points, and her 11 rebounds were a big part of why OSU won the rebounding battle 43-28, another key to the Beavers victory.

The other Beaver who broke out offensively was Tiara Bolden. Early threes from Bolden helped Oregon State build an early lead that Western Kentucky struggled to catch up with. Bolden finished the night wit h23 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

The Beavers have one more game in Hawaii before they break for the holidays. They'll take on Miami tonight, with tip off set for 8 PM PT. The game will be streamed on Oregon State's youtube channel.

Published 4 Hours Ago

JOHN SEVERS

Having grown up in Pocatello, home of the Idaho State Bengals, John Severs is a lifelong fan of small schools that don't always deliver a lot of wins. Prior to writing for Sports Illustrated, John covered the Beavers for SB Nation's Oregon State blog Building the Dam, with a focus on baseball and women's basketball. When he's not watching college sports he spends most of his time reading, playing video games and annoying cats.