Beavers Battle Back To Take Down Cougars, 76-69

Oregon State left everything on the court tonight, earning a tough win over Washington State in their first game of Pac-12 play, and improve their record to 11-2.

After a close first quarter ended with a slim OSU lead, the Beavers built a big lead in the second quarter, and took a 44-31 lead into halftime.

Kat Tudor was a big part of that lead, hitting two big threes to help build it. Unfortunately, after grabbing a rebound midway through the second quarter, Tudor came down awkwardly on her left leg, and collapsed to the court in pain. While she would return to the bench after the half, with a brace on her leg, she did not play for the rest of the game.

The Beavers felt her absence. In the third quarter, their shooting went ice cold, and Washington State pounced on that opportunity. Borislava Hritsova exploded in that quarter, en route to a 24 point game. Jovana Subasic rained down threes whenever the Beavers gave her any room.

Washington State’s defense shut down the post, and Oregon State couldn’t find a perimeter scoring option without Tudor. The Cougars erased the Beavers’ halftime advantage, grabbing the lead late in the third, but Taya Corosdale hit a beautiful buzzer beater to put OSU up by one point.

The fourth quarter started even worse for the Beavers, with more shooting woes allowing WSU the chance to build a small lead. With the Cougars up 4 with 3:20 left in the game, the Beavers reached down deep and refused to let this one slip away.

Destiny Slocum was perhaps the biggest player in the turnaround. She was slippery on offense, finding open to cut away the Cougars lead, while being sweltering on defense, not letting Washington State find any daylight when they had possession.

Aleah Goodman and Taya Corosdale also made big shots to close out the win, making clutch free throws and fast break layups to build a lead back up for Oregon State. Washington State could not manage to find an open shot on any of their possessions, and the Beavers earned a hard fought 76-69 win.

None of the Beavers are going to put this game on their highlight reel, but they showed a lot of heart tonight. Slocum finished the night with 12 points, 8 assists, and 3 rebounds, and her play in the closing minutes helped seal the win.

Mikayla Pivec was once again the Beavers’ leading scorer, with 14 points, along with 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Only 5 of those were in the second half, as WSU zeroed in one Pivec, trying to take her out of the game. They didn’t quite manage it, but it took the Beavers time to adjust.

Aleah Goodman rounded out the Beavers’ double digit scorers, with 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. Maddie Washington had a nice game, with 7 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists. The Beavers rebounding game was crucial in the win. They had a big advantage in second chance points in the first half, and when Washington State finally started grabbing some offensive rebounds in the second half, we saw a whole different game.

The Beavers will next take on the Washington Huskies, on Sunday, January 6th at 2:00 PM PT. For a preview of the game, and for any further updates on Kat Tudor’s condition, check back with Building the Dam.