Oregon State WBB: Beavers Hang On To Beat Ducks 68-65

After a tough pair of losses against the Arizona schools, the Oregon State Women’s team was in need of a quality win. They got one Friday night against the 24th ranked Oregon Ducks, winning 68-65 despite a frantic Oregon comeback in the final minutes of the game. The Beavers improve to 11-8 overall, and 3-5 in conference play, while Oregon falls to 13-6, and 4-4 in the Pac-12.

While Te’Hina Paopao scored the first points in the first quarter, the open period belonged to the Beavers, who built a solid lead thanks to a big effort from Shalexxus Aaron. After Paopao gave the Ducks the lead, Shalexxus Aaron tied the game with a jumper. After a pair of free throws from Paopao, Aaron tied the game again with a layup.

Jelena Mitrovic gave the Beavers their first lead of the game with a layup, and the Beavers controlled the rest of the first quarter. A pair of layups from Talia von Oelhoffen and a three from Noelle Mannen helped the Beavers build their lead, and Oregon State finished the first quarter up 7, 17-10.

Raegan Beers opened the second quarter with a layup, but after that the Ducks began to erode the Oregon State lead. Taya Hanson did the most damage with a pair of threes, and while Beers put in a strong effort to keep the Beavers in front, a Taylor Hosendove free throw with 12 seconds to go tied the game. A last second Timea Gardiner three pointer gave Oregon State a three point lead headed into halftime.

A pair of shots from von Oelhoffen and Mitrovic built the Beavers lead back up at the start of the third. The Ducks immediately went on a tear, with shots from Grey Chance, Endyia Rogers and Te-Hina PaoPao erasing the Oregon State lead, leaving the game tied with 5 minutes left in the quarter. Some timely shots from Raegan Beers and Timea Gardiner put the Beavers back in front, and OSU headed into the final period up 49-40.

A three from Von Oelhoffen put the Beaver lead into double digits in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but that margin didn’t last long. Endyia Rogers scored six in the next couple minutes, but Bendu Yeaney and AJ Marotte put in work to keep the Beavers in front. With 3 minutes to go, Oregon State was up 12, and it felt like victory was in hand.

A pair of back to back threes from Chance Gray immediately cut into the Beaver lead, and then another three, from Tay Hanson, got the Beaver margin down to only three. A Bendu Yeaney layup added some cushion, but then another Chance Grey three cut the OSU lead to 2 with less than a minute to go.

Oregon State hunkered down, playing defensively to protect their lead. Eventually Oregon was forced to foul, but Jelena Mitrovic only made one of her two free throws, giving the Ducks a chance. Oregon had a chance to tie things up with 10 seconds left in the game, but Noelle Mannen blocked a Chance Grey three. Oregon recovered, but another Chance Grey shot missed the mark, securing the win for Oregon State.

Talia von Oelhoffen lead the Beavers in scoring, with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Timea Gardiner was right behind her, with 15 points and 4 rebounds. No other Beavers hit double digits, but Jelena Mitrovic and Raegan Beers came close, with 9 points each.

That’s the only game for Oregon State this weekend, but next weekend the Beavers will be back on the road. They’ll be travelling to Northern California to take on Stanford on Friday, January 27th, and California on Sunday, January 29th.