Oregon St. Sweeps LA

Oregon St. women's basketball got back on track after suffering their first loss of the season at 7th ranked Tennessee between the holidays, sweeping LA for only the second time EVER.

The Beavers opened the trip Saturday evening by leading wire to wire to beat UCLA 65-47. Jamie Weisner, who struggled mightily in the loss to the Volunteers, finishing with only 3 points, bounced back with vengeance, leading the way with 17 points, including 3 of 5 shooting from behind the 3 point arc.

Sidney Wiese was right behind, with 16 points, including 4 3 pointers, and Gabriella Hanson came off the bench, with 3 more made 3s, and 11 points, as Oregon St. had 5 players connect from outside.

Ruth Hanson was held to only 7 points, but grabbed a game high 13 rebounds, as the Beavers out-boarded the Bruins by 20. It was the second time this season Oregon St. has crossed the 50 rebound mark, with 51 in this one.

UCLA's Nira Fields had a game high 20 points, but the Oregon St. defense nullified everyone else.

UCLA isn't the UCLA of usual though, and are only 5-9 after also falling to Oregon 62-46 Monday night.

The win did move Oregon St. up from 13th to 11th when the poll came out Monday, as the Beavers got ready for the rematch of last year's Pac-12 Championship game with USC, a game that "got away" after Oregon St. led by 7 at halftime, only to see the Trojans roll by for the 71-62 win.

The Beavers exacted a measure of revenge on the Trojans, again leading wire to wire for a 76-66 win, though it wasn't easy. Oregon St. didn't play well offensively at times, especially in the first half, and struggled at times with the USC press, ultimately suffering 13 turnovers.

But the Beavers did play defense throughout, and though Alexyz Vaioletama got out of control for a game high 24 points, no one else did, and Oregon St. also did as they usually do, and shoot the lights out of the Galen Center, especially Wiese.

Wiese knocked down 5 3s, which moved her past Ali Gibson into 3rd place on the career 3 point list at Oregon St., but every starter but Hamblin hit from beyond the arc, as the Beavers connected 14 times from outside.

3 point shooting was the key to the first of a pair of decisive stretches, as with less than 3 minutes left in the first half, and Oregon St. up only 29-28, Gibson, Weisner, who is 6th in OSU history on 3s, and Weise all knocked down 3s in just over a minute's time to put some distance on the Trojans.

The other came as soon as Oregon St. emerged from the locker room to start the second half, as Oregon St. coach Scott Rueck's halftime adjustments took effect.

Devan Hunter hit a 3 and followed with a basket, and then Hamblin hit back to back baskets, as the Beavers extended a 5 point 38-33 halftime lead to a 12 point advantage.

USC hung tough, but Hunter and Hamblin were on their way to 11 and 16 point nights, and Weisner finished with 15 in support of Wiese, who led the Beavers, with 19, on 6 of 9 shooting, including 5 of 7 on 3s.

When asked by the Pac-12's Jim Watson when Wiese gets the green light, Rueck, who picked up his 75th win with Oregon St. in the victory replied "When she signed her LOI".

USC dropped to 9-5, while Oregon St. improved to 12-1, their best start in school history, and 2-0 in the Pac-12. The Beavers have taken each of their last 24 wins, which goes back 28 games into last season, by double digit margins. After more than a month since their last game at Gill Coliseum, the Beavers return home to take on Oregon (8-5, 1-1) Friday night at 7 PM, and will conclude a Civil War double Sunday evening at 5 PM in Eugene.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com