Spring Break
Beavers top USC by three
Oregon State outlasts Women of Troy, leaving OSU a win away from .500 conference record
Maria Bruggere
Issue date: 3/6/09 Section: Sports
It was down to the wire, and with a mere 16 seconds to go, USC made a lucky 3-point shot to bring it to a two-point game, but Rhea sunk two free-throws to secure an Oregon State women's basketball team win, 61-58, Thursday night at Gill Coliseum.
"This is an outstanding team victory. We beat a very good Pac-10 team who's ranked ahead of us in the standings," head coach LaVonda Wagner said. "This was a very important 40 minutes of basketball for us to play because of that."
It was a strong start for the Beavers (18-10, 8-9 Pac-10). Although they trailed most of the first half, they kept a close game. At halftime, both teams left for the locker room at a two-point game: 26-28, USC (14-14,8-9 Pac-10).
"We went into the locker room at the half down eight in the rebounding category, and we just really made a big charge to get to the offensive glass and get to the defensive glass and we had 18 offensive rebounds, which really enabled us to really go at the glass and get some scores, and that was really important for us to do," Wagner said.
Sophomore guard Talisa Rhea led the Beavers in buckets with 18 points. She was 50 percent from the field, 1-4 from beyond the arc, and 7-8 from the stripe.
Sophomore center Alex Mitchell took home a double-double on the evening with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while senior guard Brittney Davis also scored in the double digits for the 13th consecutive time with 13 points in the game. Davis also had seven assists, four rebounds and was 4-6 at the stripe. Senior center Tiffany Ducker had 12 of the 45 rebounds for the game as well as two blocks.
"Going down the home stretch, we want to protect our home court," Wagner said. "I felt like this was a tremendous team effort. We got a double-double; Alex Mitchell. Talisa shot the ball very well, and our defense down the stretch was tremendous."
In the second half of play, the Beavers took over the Women of Troy with a nine-point lead with 8:23 remaining, but USC came back with an 11-2 run to tie up the game 50-50 with 2:57 remaining. The crowd at Gill Coliseum roared in an attempt to distract the Women of Troy. Try as they might, USC failed to take the lead after Rhea successfully completed critical free throws to hold out for the victory.
"USC, every time they come into the gym, it comes down to the end. It's a close game and a lot of crazy things happen, and so I really think from my standpoint on the sideline and our players' standpoint from the floor, we were prepared for that, and we knew that we had to be poised under pressure and we had to make plays," Wagner said. "We made defensive stops down to the end and rebounded the ball, and that really was the difference in the game."
This sets up the Beavers for a weekend sweep in the final days of conference basketball for the 2008-09 season. Saturday night's game against UCLA marks the last home game as well as senior night for three Beavers: guard Mercedes Fox-Griffin, Davis and Ducker. The game is schedule for a 12:30 p.m. tip-off at Gill Coliseum.
Maria Bruggere, sports writer
sports@dailybarometer.com
"This is an outstanding team victory. We beat a very good Pac-10 team who's ranked ahead of us in the standings," head coach LaVonda Wagner said. "This was a very important 40 minutes of basketball for us to play because of that."
It was a strong start for the Beavers (18-10, 8-9 Pac-10). Although they trailed most of the first half, they kept a close game. At halftime, both teams left for the locker room at a two-point game: 26-28, USC (14-14,8-9 Pac-10).
"We went into the locker room at the half down eight in the rebounding category, and we just really made a big charge to get to the offensive glass and get to the defensive glass and we had 18 offensive rebounds, which really enabled us to really go at the glass and get some scores, and that was really important for us to do," Wagner said.
Sophomore guard Talisa Rhea led the Beavers in buckets with 18 points. She was 50 percent from the field, 1-4 from beyond the arc, and 7-8 from the stripe.
Sophomore center Alex Mitchell took home a double-double on the evening with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while senior guard Brittney Davis also scored in the double digits for the 13th consecutive time with 13 points in the game. Davis also had seven assists, four rebounds and was 4-6 at the stripe. Senior center Tiffany Ducker had 12 of the 45 rebounds for the game as well as two blocks.
"Going down the home stretch, we want to protect our home court," Wagner said. "I felt like this was a tremendous team effort. We got a double-double; Alex Mitchell. Talisa shot the ball very well, and our defense down the stretch was tremendous."
In the second half of play, the Beavers took over the Women of Troy with a nine-point lead with 8:23 remaining, but USC came back with an 11-2 run to tie up the game 50-50 with 2:57 remaining. The crowd at Gill Coliseum roared in an attempt to distract the Women of Troy. Try as they might, USC failed to take the lead after Rhea successfully completed critical free throws to hold out for the victory.
"USC, every time they come into the gym, it comes down to the end. It's a close game and a lot of crazy things happen, and so I really think from my standpoint on the sideline and our players' standpoint from the floor, we were prepared for that, and we knew that we had to be poised under pressure and we had to make plays," Wagner said. "We made defensive stops down to the end and rebounded the ball, and that really was the difference in the game."
This sets up the Beavers for a weekend sweep in the final days of conference basketball for the 2008-09 season. Saturday night's game against UCLA marks the last home game as well as senior night for three Beavers: guard Mercedes Fox-Griffin, Davis and Ducker. The game is schedule for a 12:30 p.m. tip-off at Gill Coliseum.
Maria Bruggere, sports writer
sports@dailybarometer.com
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Be the first to comment on this story
Comments by registered users are approved by default.