Oregon State Women's Basketball: Beavers Pick Up First WCC Win With 71-67 Victory Over Gonzaga

Despite holding a double digit deficit with minutes left in the game, Kelsey Rees and the Beavers forced overtime and took down the Bulldogs in the extra period.

John Severs | Dec 29, 2024

Mar 17, 2017; Corvallis, OR, USA; Oregon State Beavers coach Scott Rueck (right) reacts as a foul is called in a game against the Long Beach State 49ers in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship at Oregon State University. Mandatory Credit: Molly J. Smith/Statesman Journal via USA TODAY NETWORK / Statesman Journal-USA TODAY NETWORK

After a trip to Hawaii and a break for the holidays, the Oregon State women were back in action Saturday afternoon. It took a fourth quarter comeback to push the game into overtime, but the Beavers picked up their first West Coast Conference win with a 71-67 win over Gonzaga. The win puts the Beavers at 5-8 overall, and 1-1 in conference play.

The first half was closely fought, with Kelsey Rees leading the way for the Beavers and Yvonne Ejim doing the same for the Bulldogs. A layup from Rees gave the Beavers a three point, 31-28 lead at the end of the half, but in the second half things started to go Gonzaga's way.

Not right away though. Claire O'Connor and Kennedie Shuler traded threes at the start of the quarter to keep the Beaver lead at three. Jumpers from Yvonne Ejim and Esther Little gave the Bulldogs the lead back, but then a Tiara Bolden three put the Beavers back in front.

That was the story for most of the period, but with three minutes left in the quarter Gonzaga got themselves on a run. Ejim, Allie Turner and Ines Bettencourt scored 7 straight in the closing minutes to put the Bulldogs up 7, 51-44. The Beavers would start the fourth quarter in a bit of hole.

Things looked grim, as Oregon State struggled to chip away at Gonzaga's lead. With 3 minutes left the Bulldogs were up twelve, but then shots finally started to drop for the Beavers. A Kennedie Shuler jump shot got the deficit down to ten, and then six straight points from Kelsey Rees got the Beavers within four. Tiara Bolden hit a pair of free throws with a minute to go to cut the Gonzaga lead to two, and a costly miss from McKynnlie Dalan, and a timely rebound by Bolden, insured the Beavers would have one more chance to tie things up.

OSU put the ball in Kennedie Shuler's hands, and Ines Bettencourt fouled her forcing Shuler to the line. She hit both her free throws, and after Yvonne Ejim missed a game winning jumper, we were headed to overtime.

Kelsey Rees put up the first OT points for the Beavers, with a layup and a free throw. Allie Turner tied the game for Gonzaga with a three, before Catarina Ferreira free throws gave OSU the lead back. Ally Turner hit a three to give the Bulldogs their last lead of the night, as Ally Schimel responded with a three of her own to put the Beavers in front for good. Kennedie Shuler capped things off with a pair of free throws, and the Beavers took home a 71-67 win.

Rees led the Beavers in scoring, with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Kennedie Shuler also delivered in the clutch, with 16y points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds. Tiara Bolden also broke double digits in scoring, with 10 points, 4 rebounds and an assist.

The Beavers won't get much time to rest. Monday they'll be back on the road, traveling to Portland to take on the WCC's top team, the undefeated Portland Pilots. Tip off is set 6 PM PT.

Published Dec 29, 2024

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.