Oregon State Women’s Basketball: Beavers Fall To Arizona State 67-57

The Oregon State Beavers and Arizona State Sun Devils battled in a closely fought contest for four quarters, before a bevy of fouls in the final minutes propelled ASU to a 67-57 win over the Beavers. Oregon State drops to 11-6 overall, and 4-3 in the Pac-12.

Arizona State started the game hot, with Jade Loville leading the Sun Devils to an early lead. The Beavers matched them early, with Talia von Oelhoffen hitting a go ahead three to put the Beavers in front with two minutes left in the first quarter. That lead didn’t last long, as turnovers began to trouble Oregon State, which ASU was quick to capitalize on. A Jade Loville layup put the Sun Devils up by 1 after the first, 14-13.

AJ Marotte put the Beavers back in front to start the second quarter, but free throws from Arizona State’s Taya Hanson gave them back the lead. The Sun Devils started to go to the three heavily, with Loville, Hanson and Katelyn Levings each hitting one in short order to keep Arizona State in front. Despite big plays from Talia von Oelhoffen and Jelena Mitrovic, the Beavers struggled to stay even with ASU.

The turnover problems reared their head in the second with the Beavers committing 11 in the first half, giving the Sun Devils far too many opportunities. A layup with a free throw from Mitrovic finally tied the game up for Oregon State, but an Imogen Greenslade jumper kept ASU in front at the half, 31-29.

Jade Loville started the third on a hot streak, scoring a quick five points to give Arizona State their largest lead of the night. Greta Kampschroeder finally broke the ASU run, with help from a pair of offensive rebounds, and a Tea Adams three followed to get the Beavers within two. That three gave Tea her 1,000th career point.

A layup from Kennedy Brown got the Beavers their first lead since the first quarter. The Beaver run continued, as Oregon State was able to stretch their lead to seven before ASU finally found a basket. That capped a 14-0 run for Oregon State to take control of the game. Arizona State recovered, but OSU managed to stay in front to end the third up 3, 47-44.

After a Jelena Mitrovic jumper, four straight points from Jade Loville got the Sun Devils to within one. They took the lead back with a Taya Hanson three, and another three, from Ayzhiana Basallo, gave them a five point lead. The Beavers managed to trim the Arizona State lead with some shaky free throw shooting before a von Oelhoffen layup tied things back up. A pair of free throws from Kennedy Brown put the Beavers back in front with 3 minutes to go.

Jump shots from Katelyn Levings and Jade Loville put ASU back in front, with the Beavers having a minute and a half to get the lead back. An Ellie Mack three bounced off the rim, and ASU managed to burn a minute off the clock. With 30 seconds left, Mack then had the ball stripped by Levings, a physical play that prompted an outburst from Head Coach Scott Rueck that resulted in him being thrown from the game.

That gave Arizona some technicals to work with, and essentially ended the game. Arizona State hit all their shots to go up 65-57. The Beavers would fail to score again, while ASU hit a few more free throws, to give them a 10 point win, 67-57.

Von Oelhoffen led the Beavers in scoring, with 16 points, 4 assists and 1 rebound. Jelena Mitrovic was the only other Beaver to break double digits. with 13 points, 5 rebounds an 1 assist.

Free throw shooting was a big issue for the Beavers, especially for a game as close as this one was until the final, penalty filled minute. The Beaverse were 6 of 13 on the shots from the line, for a 46.2 shooting percentage. That’s not a sustainable number if you want to compete in the Pac-12.

The Beavers have an even tougher challenge Sunday afternoon, when they take on the eighth ranked Arizona Wildcats. The Wildcats beat the Beavers in their first meeting in Corvallis 55-53. Tip off for the rematch is set for 11:00 AM.