In one of the Beavers toughest challenges so far this season, Oregon State came out on top. Thanks to an impressive defensive effort and a monster game from Mikayla Pivec, the Beavers took down the Colorado Buffaloes 72-60, to improve to 14-0, and 2-0 in the Pac-12. Colorado falls to 12-2, and 1-2 in conference play.

Colorado’s defense challenged the Beavers early, generating turnovers on the Beavers first three possessions. The game got very physical, as Colorado challenge the Beavers defensively, and fouls began to accumulate early. It was the Buffaloes who first broke the stalemate, and they began to build a lead. An 8 point run got Colorado a 6 point lead with 2 minutes to go in the first quarter, which the Beavers trimmed to just 4, 21-17, before time expired.

The Beavers began to gain control in the second, with Mikayla Pivec scoring 5 in a row to give the Beavers the lead back. Threes from Destiny Slocum and Aleah Goodman kept the Beavers in front, while Colorado struggled to hit their shots. The Beavers ended the first half up 40-30.

This season the Beavers have put in some dominant third quarters to put games away early, but today the tables were turned. It was the Buffaloes who controlled the third, as their defense shut down Oregon State’s shooting. The Beavers just couldn’t make a shot for most of the quarter, allowing Colorado to get the OSU lead down to just 4. Oregon State managed to stay in front by making free throws, but momentum had definitely swung back Colorado’s way.

The Beavers shots finally began to fall in the fourth, with Mikayla Pivec leading the way. Pivec has been on fire all season, but today might have been her best game. She once again flirted with a triple double, with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists. Pivec either scored or assisted in most of the Beavers scoring in the first half of the fourth, as the Beavers grew their lead to 15.

Colorado had opportunities to keep themselves in the game, but some egregiously bad free throw shooting hurt their chances considerably. In a physical, foul heavy game, the Buffaloes were just 5-14 on free throws in the second half. Kennedy Brown and Mya Hollingshed traded threes to close out the game, a 72-60 win for the Beavers.

Destiny Slocum led the Beavers in scoring, finishing just ahead of Pivec with 18 points, 4 rebounds and an assist. Taylor Jones also scored 16, and added 10 rebounds and 6 blocks. Kennedy Brown added 12 points, 8 rebounds and another 3 blocks for Oregon State. That’s an amazing defensive effort from the Beavers’ forwards.

Up Next

The Beavers get their first road trip of the Pac-12 schedule, traveling to Arizona to take on the Wildcats on Friday, January 10th, and the Sun Devils on Sunday, January 12th. Arizona was one of the last remaining undefeated teams in the country this morning, but just dropped their first game against another undefeated team, UCLA. Arizona is 13-1 (2-1), while Arizona State is 10-4 (0-2).