With crucial plays late, the Beavers denied Oregon their upset bid.
The Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team will watch the replay of this game and feel terrible for themselves since they allowed No. 18 Oregon State to pull off a major upset. But in front of 8,602 spectators, it was the Beavers who triumphed 64-60 to leave Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks haven’t had many good games this season, but with 4:30 remaining in the game, they were down just one, 54-53. However, the Beavers pulled away with an 8-2 run in only two minutes by taking advantage of some enormous gaps in Oregon’s 2-3 zone.
With 16 points and 18 rebounds, Phillipina Kyei led the Ducks, followed by Grace VanSlooten with 14 points. Chance Gray scored a scorching 15 points on 6 of 15 field goals.
For the Beavers, Talia Von Oelhoffen scored ten points, Raegan Beers scored fourteen, and Timea Gardiner scored a career-high nineteen. Nevertheless, the Ducks were unable to overcome Lily Hansford’s two long-range bombs on consecutive possessions in the closing minutes of the game. Hansford, who shoots more than 50% of the time from three points, was the one who was left free in the zone, and the left-hander made the big baskets.
In the second quarter, Oregon State jumped out to a 26-15 lead and seemed like they might run the Ducks out of the building. The Beavers were getting their bearings, and Oregon’s offense was not clicking. However, a 10-0 Duck surge in the final 20 minutes of play pulled them back into the game, with OSU down just 30-25.
The Ducks’ overall record is now 11-12, a losing one after the loss. Oregon State is up to 18-3 overall and 7-3 in Pac-12 play as they keep up their strong play. The Ducks’ journey to the Mountain schools, where they will face No. 6 Colorado on Friday, won’t get any easier.