Oregon State WBB: Beavers Fall to Stanford in Second Round of Pac-12 Tournament, 68-57

For the third time this season, the Beavers couldn’t get past the Stanford Cardinal. In the third meeting, in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament, the Cardinal jumped out to a big lead that Oregon State couldn’t manage to erase. The Beavers all to 23-9 on the eve of the NCAA Tournament bracket selection.

Stanford’s defense shutdown the Beavers in the first quarter, only allowing Oregon State to score 10 points. Turnovers hurt the Beavs; they turned the ball over 7 times leading to 6 points for Stanford. Kiana Williams led the way for Stanford, hitting 2 threes in the first, helping the Cardinal build a 15 point, 25-10 lead at the end of the quarter.

Oregon State started to turn things around in the second, as Maddie Washington, Destiny Slocum and Aleah Goodman started getting the offense going. Defensively, they also managed to hit the brakes on Stanford’s scoring onslaught, holding the Cardinal to only 13 points. A Destiny Slocum layup on a fast break cut the Cardinal lead to 13, 38-25, at halftime.

As the third quarter opened a three pointer from Kat Tudor and a free throw and layup from Taylor Jones got the Stanford lead into single digits for the for the first time since the first quarter. Sadly for the Beavers, Kiana Williams began to take over the game. After being shut out in the second, she bounced back in a big way in the third. She hit three three pointers and scored 11 total poitns to shift momentum back toward the Cardinal, giving them a 20 point lead with 20 seconds left in the third. Destiny Slocum hit a three with 6 seconds to go to cut the Cardinal lead to 17, 57-40, headed into the final quarter.

Oregon State’s defense once again managed to jam up Stanford’s scoring in the fourth, but there simply wasn’t enough time to take down a lead of that size. Good three point shooting from Aleah Goodman and Mikayla Pivec, and Destiny Slocum’s absolutely amazing all around, helped shaved down the margin, but the clock was there biggest enemy this quarter. With 4:44 left in the game, they managed to get the Stanford lead down to 10, and just over a minute later they got it down to 8, but that was as close as it would get. The Beavers had to begin to foul to regain possession, and Stanford didn’t disappoint at the foul line. They pulled out the win, 68-57.

Destiny Slocum and Aleah Goodman each scored 12 points to tie for the Beaver scoring lead. They each also added three rebounds, and Slocum also contributed 3 assists. Mikayla Pivec added 10 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Those rebounds made Mikayla the all time leading rebounder for Oregon State. Maddie Washington had one of her better games offensively, with 9 points and 4 rebounds.

The Beavers will now have to wait and see where the NCAA Selection Committee decides to place them. The team is currently ranked 14 in the AP Poll, and 15 in the Coaches Poll, so they’ve still got a great shot at a top 4 seed and the chance to host some games at Gill. The NCAA Women’s Tournament Bracket will be announced on Monday, March 16th, at 4 PM PT on ESPN.