Oregon State Women's Basketball: Beavers Fall to Washington State 66-52
Oregon State's three game winning streak came to an end Saturday afternoon, as the Beavers fell to Washington State 66-52 on the road in Pullman. The loss drops the Beavers to 7-9 overall, and 3-2 in the West Coast Conference.
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The Cougars jumped out in front of the Beavers right away, taking a 23-10 lead after the first quarter, with Tara Wallack leading the charge for the Cougars with 8 points and a pair of threes. The second quarter wasn't much better for Oregon State. While the Oregon State defense did a better job at corralling WSU's scoring, the Beavers just couldn't get their shots to drop, going 3-17 from the field. The Cougars held an 34-19 lead at the half.
The third quarter was much the same for both teams, with neither side able to muster much scoring. The Beavers came out on top, barely, outscoring the Cougars 12-11 in the period, Kelsey Rees and AJ Marotte did their best to keep the Beavers in the game, scoring 5 points each, but OSU just could not cut into the Washington State lead.
In the fourth quarter the Beavers finally found their scoring rhythm, with Rees once again leading the charge for Oregon State. She put up 9 points in the quarter, including going 5 for 5 from the foul line, but unfortunately for the Beavers Wazzu matched them point for point. Eleonora Villa was the biggest scorer for the Cougars, but it was a team wide effort, and OSU once again failed to make any dent in the WSU lead, falling 66-52.
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Three point shooting may have been the biggest pain point for the Beavers on Saturday. Washington State wasn't electric from beyond the arc, going 9-28, but it certainly outpaced Oregon State's abysmal 2 for 18. OSU's inability to hit the big shots severely limited their ability to cut into the Cougar lead.
Kelsey Rees was once again the Beavers leading scorer, and was the only person on the lead to make a three, going 2-4 from beyond the arc. She finished the night with 17 points and 11 rebounds for another double double. Catarina Ferreira was right behind her in scoring, with 14 points and 8 rebounds. AJ Marotte rounded out the top scorers, with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
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Oregon State's next week is going to be a big one. They only have one game, but it's against the team at the top of the WCC standings, the San Francisco Dons. The Dons have gone undefeated in conference play, with a 5-0 record, and are 8-6 overall. The Beavers will be back at home, and picking up a win here would be a great way to bounce back from today's loss.
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.