The Barometer Online

Issue date: 2/5/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Jeff Wick Head coach LaVonda Wagner leads the Oregon State women's basketball team into second half of Pac-10 season tonight in Tucson, Ariz.

This weekend marks the beginning of round two for the Oregon State Beavers basketball team, as well as a chance to beat the University of Arizona Wildcats for the second time, and the Arizona State Sun Devils for the first time this season.

The women's basketball team will head to the University of Arizona (8-12, 1-8 Pac-10) tonight to play Ify Ibekwe and the rest of the Wildcats. Oregon State (12-7, 3-6) looks to achieve a second consecutive Pac-10 victory after beating the Oregon Ducks this last weekend, 61-42.

Ibekwe has been Arizona's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 15.7 points per game. A threat on both ends of the court, Ibekwe has also been a strong defensive presence with a team high of 37 blocks, and will receive much of Oregon State's attention.

When the Beavers played host to the Wildcats at Legendary Gill Coliseum, OSU came out with a 68-43 win with sophomore guard Talisa Rhea leading all scorers with 21 points. Arizona is coming off their first Pac-10 win of the season against the Washington Huskies. The Wildcats beat the Huskies 65-51, moving Arizona into a ninth place tie with Washington in the Pac-10 standings and a record of 1-8.

"We beat Arizona here last time, so we know they'll come out ready to go," said senior guard Brittney Davis. "That game will be competitive."

On Saturday night, the Beavers will head to Tempe to face off against the Arizona State Sun Devils and former Southridge Skyhawk freshman Alex Earl. While Earl has played sparingly off the bench, Arizona State will look to junior guard Dymond Simon, who was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for her performance last weekend against Washington State. Simon is averaging 15.5 points per game and 4.5 assists.

With Arizona State coming off a seven game winning streak, Simon will be a key player in Saturday night's game. The first time around, the Beavers couldn't quite get the job done, falling to the Sun Devils 36-61.

The Beavers hope to come out strong against both teams this weekend, looking to last weekend's leading scorer, Davis and top rebounder, Tiffany Ducker, to continue their strong play of last week. In the first meeting against Arizona, OSU shot a mere 35 percent from the field and came out with the win. However, this time around could prove to be a tougher match-up.

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