UPSET! Beavers Take Down 8th Ranked UCLA On the Road, 71-64

Oregon State pulled off one of their all time biggest upsets, taking down the eight ranked UCLA Bruins on the road, 71-64. The Beavers have been on quite a hot streak recently, winning five of their last six, and this win is their biggest of the season. The team improves to 8-6 overall, and 6-6 in conference play.

The first quarter was a close fought defensive contest, with Talia Von Oelhoffen leading the way for the Beavers while Michaela Onyenwere led the Bruins. The Beavers held a small lead midway through the quarter, but Onyenwere scored eight points in a row to put UCLA up 18-13 at the end of the first.

A seven point run from the Beavers, capped by a Sasha Goforth three, put OSU back in front in the second quarter. Oregon State began to find some space in the key, getting layups from Taylor Jones and Aleah Goodman, while Jones and Jelena Mitrovic led the rebounding game. The Beavers held the Bruins to 13 points in the second, while scoring 23 themselves. Oregon State led 36-31 at the half.

The Beavers hung onto their slim lead in the third, helped by the return of Taylor Jones after she sat out much of the second quarter due to foul trouble. The game got even more foul heavy in the third, with Jones picking up another and Ellie Mack also getting into foul trouble. Despite that, the Beavers managed to maintain their lead for much of the period, with Jelena Mitrovic adding several points from the foul line. An eight point run from the Bruins to close out the quarter gave UCLA a 52-51 lead headed into the fourth.

Ellie Mack got the Beavers the lead back to open the fourth, and then got it back again with a three point shot. Charisma Carpenter mathed that three to tie things up for UCLA. Von Oelhoffen got the Beavers the lead once again, and Aleah Goodman hit some clutch shots to extend the margin. With time ticking away for the Bruins, fouls started coming even more heavy than they had before. The Beavers hit there shots, and with 20 seconds left Oregon State was up 10. UCLA hit a three to cut the lead, but couldn’t get the ball back. Oregon State wins 71-64.

Aleah Goodman led the team in scoring with 20 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds. Taylor Jones had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Those rebounds came up huge. Oregon State won the rebounding battle 45 to 39, which ended up being a key factor. Talia Von Oelhoffen rounded out the double digit scorers, with 13 points, 6 rebounds and an assist.

The Beavers have one game left on their regular season schedule. That’s a trip to Eugene to take on the 13th ranked Oregon Ducks. After this weekend’s results, everybody needs to look out for Oregon State. Tip off is set for Sunday, February 27th at 3:00 PM PT.