Beavers Beat Ducks 71-64, Advance to Pac-12 Semifinals

On Thursday morning the Beavers and Ducks met for the third time in the 2020-21 season, this time in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament. Just as they did last Sunday, the Beavers emerged on top in a close fought contest, taking down the Ducks 71-64. The win, Oregon State’s fifth in a row, moves the team to 11-6 overall, and 7-6 in conference play. The Beavers will face the winner of #1 Stanford vs #8 USC tomorrow at 5:00 PM PT.

It didn’t look like the Beavers were going to pull off a win after a miserable first quarter. Oregon State hit only one shot in the first nine minutes, a three from Sasha Goforth. Thankfully, the Ducks didn’t fare much better, scoring only 10 points in the quarter. Jelena Mitrovic hit a layup with less than a minute ago to finally end the Beavers shooting woes, and OSU went into the second down 10-5.

The Beavers finally started to find a rhythm in the second. Threes from Aleah Goodman and Talia Von Oelhoffen helped cut the Oregon lead. A layup from Sasha Goforth tied up the game, and then another layup from Jelena Mitrovic gave OSU the lead. Mitrovic and Goforth would each tack on a few more to help give the Beavers a 24-19 lead headed into halftime.

Nyara Sabally and Taylor Mikesell helped get the Ducks back in the game in third, cutting the Beaver to just one on a couple occasions. Oregon State managed to stay in front, and then with 4 minutes left in the quarter went on a big run. OSU outscored the Ducks 15-2 to establish a commanding lead over the Ducks, and ended the third up 55-40.

Oregon only had a quarter to work with if they wanted to make this game a contest, but they fought hard. Taylor Mikesell led the charge, scoring 11 points in the final 10 minutes, and the Ducks managed to get Oregon State’s lead down to 4 with less than a minute to go. It wasn’t enough time to work with however, and free throws from Aleah Goodman sealed the win for the Beavers, 71-64.

Talia Von Oelhoffen once again led the Beavers in scoring, with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Aleah Goodman added 13 points, 7 assists and 2 rebounds. Sasha Goforth finished with 10 points, 3 rebounds and an assist. Taylor Jones also finished with 10 points, and added 8 rebounds and a block.

Stanford and USC tip off today at 2 PM PT. The winner of that game will face the Beavers tomorrow, with tip off set for 5 PM PT. The game will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks.

UPDATE

Stanford has demolished USC, 92-53. The Beavers will take on the Cardinal tomorrow at 5. In there first meeting, on February 13th, Stanford demolished the Beavers 83-58. That was the last time Oregon State lost a game. We’ll have a good measure of just how much better this team has gotten tomorrow.