Oregon St. Women Pull Away from Portland St.

In their last tune up before their New Years' night Pac-10 home opener against the Washington St. Cougars, the Oregon St. womens' hoops team pulled away from the Portland St. Vikings Tuesday night for a 58-49 win at the Stott Center in snowy Portland.

Talisa Rhea connected on eight of ten from the free throw line, and led the Beavers with 19 points.

Claire Faucher led Portland State with 22 points and five assists.

The game was originally scheduled to be the second half of a doubleheader, after the Portland State men played Willamette at 5 p.m. However, the winter storm that moved up the valley, and hit Portland mid afternoon, dumped snow on the city, and forced multiple schedule changes. The Willamette men got stuck in traffic coming from Salem, so the women's game was switched to be the opener of the doubleheader.

However the game, originally scheduled to go at approximately 7 p.m., 30 minutes after the completion of the men's game, wound up starting later, despite being the opener, due to the snow, and traffic problems, in the downtown area. The game officially started at 8:15 p.m. after the teams were allowed 30 minutes to warm up

The disruption to routine led to a low scoring affair, which OSU led only 22-19 at half time.

Clinging to a 38-37 lead with less than six minutes left, the Beavers finally warmed up on a cold night, and outscored the Vikings 20-12 down the stretch.

Kirsten Tilleman had her third double-double of the season, putting up 14 points and 11 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. Tillerman's board total equaled Oregon State's advantage over PSU for the game.

The Beavers fourth straight win improved their record to 8-2 heading into Friday night's 7 PM contest with the Cougs, who come in at 5-6, and have been on a holiday layoff since losing 75-74 in Reno on 12/22.

OSU continues with Pac-10 play Sunday afternoon at 4 PM against the Washington Huskies, who are 5-5 heading into their game Friday evening at Oregon.