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Oregon State Beavers Women’s Basketball (13-1)
AP Poll: #16 | USA Today Coaches Poll: #12
⇛ Beavers Knock Off #9 Washington In New Year’s Thriller
Despite a furious push by Washington that included 31-point fourth-quarter display, Oregon State did just enough to hold off the ninth-ranked Huskies in Corvallis on New Year’s Day, kicking 2017 off in memorable fashion. The Beavers got a 26-point, 6-assist effort from the ever-reliable Sydney Wiese, who spearheaded another balanced win for the Beavers, where they never trailed led and even led by 27 points at one juncture.
⇛ Oregon State Climbs In AP, Coaches Poll
Built it and they will come. Head coach Scott Rueck has crafted Oregon State into one of the top women’s basketball programs in the country and when you find the type of success that the Beavers have, the accolades and recognition are surely bound to come. After sitting at the #22 spot in the AP Poll Rankings in the Week 8 Rankings, Oregon State jumped to the #16 position this week, four spots behind an aforementioned Washington team. In the USA Today Coaches Poll, the Beavers climbed from #15 in the Week 8 Rankings up to the #12 position.
⇛ Brutal Four-Game Pac-12 Road Trip On The Horizon
Oregon State got their “moneys worth” in a hard-fought home win over a top-ten ranked Washington team and they’ll have a few more chances to “prove their worth” going forward, when they kick-off a four-game road swing over the next two weeks, highlighted by back-to-back-to-back showdowns with #20 California, #10 Stanford and #9 UCLA. The brutal stretch is a sign of the unforgiving terrain of the conference that features the likes of six ranked teams (UCLA, Stanford, Washington, Oregon State, Arizona State, California) with Colorado, Utah and USC, all lurking right outside the Top 25 as well.
Up Next
#20 California (13-1) | Jan. 6th, 6:00 PM (AWAY)
The Golden Bears got out to a dominating start to the season, winning their first thirteen straight games, which included an 82-74 victory over then-#20 Oklahoma, California’s only ranked foe on the season previous to Sunday’s duel with #18 Arizona State. In their match-up with the Sun Devils, California couldn’t overcome a 28-9 free-throw attempt disparity and dropped the double-overtime thriller, due to a poor second-overtime period where they were outscored by a 12-2 margin. Coming off their first loss of the season, the Golden Bears should be well prepared for an Oregon State squad that is quickly becoming the talk of the Pac-12. California is led by sensational sophomore forward Kristine Anigwe (23.4 PPG, 10.2 RPG) and senior swing-player Courtney Range (13.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG).