Oregon State WBB: Beavers Fall To Trojans 69-58

The opening game of Oregon State’s Pac-12 schedule didn’t go the Beavers way, with the team dropping a tough contest to USC by 11 points, 69-58. Oregon State falls to 8-5 on the season, and 0-2 in Pac-12 play, while the Trojans improve to 11-2, and 1-1 in conference play.

Jelena Mitrovic got the Beavers off to a good start by scoring the first four points of the game, but USC responded with a Destinyu Little three and a Kadi Sissoko jumper to take the lead. The Trojans kept the lead for the rest of the first, but the Beavers kept things close, with a pair of Bendu Yeaney free throws kept the Beavers only down 1, 11-10, after a low scoring opening quarter.

The Trojans went on a brief run to open the second quarter, with 5 points from Rayah Marshall and a layup from Clarice Akunwafo giving them an 8 point lead. A pair of free throws from Talia von Oelhoffen and a Shalexxus Aaron three closed the gap, and a few minutes later a pair of free throws from Aaron gave the Beavers their first lead since the opening minutes of the game.

USC got the lead back immediately with an Okako Adika three pointer. In the final minutes of the first half, five straight points from Destiny Littleton gave the Trojans a seven point lead, but a Raegan Beers jumper gave the Beavers some points right before the end of the second. The Beavers went to the locker room down 5, 35-30.

Shalexxus Aaron opened the second half with a layup to cut the USC lead to three, but after that the quarter was almost all Trojans. USC went on an 11 point run to go up 14 before Raegan Beers snapped the streak with a layup. Beers finished the quarter strong, but it wasn’t enough to make a dent in the USC lead, as the Beavers went to the final quarter down 13, 51-38.

Beers scored the first five points of the fourth to cut the USC lead to 8. USC bounced back, but Oregon State kept on the pressure, and with 5:30 left in the game a Jelena Mitrovic layup got the lead down to 5. That was as close as the Beavers would get, as USC re-established control in the final 5 minutes, despite some great play from Beers and Talia von Oelhoffen.

Despite the loss a couple Beavers put in some great play. Raegan Beers has looked like a star in Oregon State’s last few games, and tonight added another double-double to her freshman season. Beers finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Shalexxus Aaron also had a big game, with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

Up next for Oregon State is a visit from UCLA Sunday afternoon. The Bruins are currently ranked 10th in the AP poll, so it’ll be a tough matchup for OSU. Tip off is set for 12 PM PT.