Oregon State WBB: Beavers Take Down Cougars 73-58 For Big Senior Day Win

In what may be the last game at Gill for many of the players, the Beavers delivered a big win to close out the regular season, taking down the Washington State Cougars 73-58. The Beavers finish the season with a 22-8 record, and a 10-8 record in the Pac-12. That puts them sixth in the conference headed into the Pac-12 Tournament.

The first quarter started off back and forth, with threes from Washington State’s Ula Motuga matched by Mikayla Pivec jumpers and Taylor Jones layups. The Beavers grabbed a slim lead, an an Aleah Goodman buzzer beating three to close out the quarter gave them a six point cushion, 22-16.

Momentum started to switch toward Wazzu in the second, with Borislava Hristova fueling a Cougar run while Oregon State’s shooting dropped a bit. Aleah Goodman and Destiny Slocum worked to keep the Beavers in front, but Washington State kept narrowing the margin, and a three from Johanna Muzet with 11 seconds left in the half gave the Cougars a 1 point, 36-35 lead.

Oregon State’s defense stepped up after the half, holding the Cougars to just 8 points in the third quarter. Washington State did not score for the final five minutes of the quarter, allowing the Beavers to build a big lead behind great shooting from Destiny Slocum and Mikayla Pivec. The Beavers led by 12, 56-44, after three.

Pivec took charge in the fourth, scoring five points right out of the gate to keep the Beavers in front. Washington State began to trim down the Beaver margin, getting it down to nine on the strength of free throws, but a Kat Tudor three got the Beavers double digit lead back, and it never got closer. The Beavers sealed a winning Pac-12 record with a 73-58 win.

In what may be her final game at Gill, Mikayla Pivec led the team in scoring with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Among her fellow seniors, Kat Tudor scored 6 points, and had 4 rebounds; Janessa Thropay had 1 point a rebound and an assist, and Maddie Washington had no points but 3 rebounds and an assist.

Destiny Slocum was right behind Pivec in scoring, with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Aleah Goodman had 15 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Taylor Jones rounded out the top scorers with 10 points, 6 rebounds an an assist.

The Beavers will now travel to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament. They’ll get an immediate rematch with Washington State for their first game, on Thursday, March 5th. Tip off is set for 8:30 PM PT, and the game will be aired on the Pac-12 Network. The Beavers, currently ranked 17th, will probably need a good showing in the conference tournament if they hope to break into the top 16 and secure a 4th seed for the NCAA Tournament, and a couple more home games.