Beavers win 3rd Straight Pac-12 Regular Season Title
For the third straight season, the Oregon State Beavers Women's Basketball team has been crowned the Pac-12 regular season champs.
If Oregon State is able to win the Pac-12 Conference Tournament, then the Beavs will have won both the Pac-12 regular season and tournament championships in consecutive seasons.
The Beavers have one more game to play before the conference tournament as they host Cal on Sunday at 11 A.M., but since Oregon State holds tiebreakers over Washington and Stanford, the outcome of Sunday's game does not affect seeding for the tournament.
On Friday night, No. 10 Oregon State pulled out a thrilling 50-47 over No. 8 Stanford, in front of a sellout crowd in Gill Coliseum. It has truly been another storybook season already for the Beavers as they are 26-3 on the season.
They knocked off Oregon in both Civil War matchups, defeated Stanford twice, and avenged an earlier loss against UCLA.
The Pac-12 Tournament kicks off on March 2 in Seattle, Washington. Stay tuned to BeaversEdge.com for the latest on OSU's Women's Basketball team.
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Story courtesy of osubeavers.com
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The No. 8/10 Oregon State women's basketball team notched its third-straight Pac-12 Championship with a 50-47 win over No. 6/8 Stanford Friday evening at a sold-out Gill Coliseum.
"It was incredible to part of this tonight," said Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck. "The heart and grit that this team showed to make this possible is something to celebrate. To go back-to-back-to-back in this conference is unbelievable. These teams are so evenly matched, so to find a way to make plays down the stretch was huge. To me, this is what it's all about. I'm so proud of this team, and I'm so proud of Beaver Nation."
Oregon State trailed by one with 15 seconds to go, when junior Marie Gulich knocked down a put-back attempt to put the Beavers up 48-47. The 6-foot-5 center would follow that up by knocking down a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining to help secure the victory.
With the win, Oregon State joins Stanford as the only teams to win three-straight Pac-12 women's basketball titles. The capacity crowd of 9,604 was a record for Oregon State women's basketball.
"Usually I don't look into the crowd before the game, but it was impossible not to," said senior guard Sydney Wiese. "Shoutout to Beaver Nation, because they really showed up in force. They were on our side all night, and it was electric. They were a part of the game just as much as we were, and I'm so thankful we could share it with them."
Wiese scored 22 points, hitting big shot after big shot when the Beavers needed them. She finished 5-for-9 from 3-point range and tallied five assists. Senior Kolbie Orum scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds.
Gulich recorded six points and eight rebounds, while redshirt-junior Breanna Brown finished with nine boards.
Oregon State held Stanford to 35 percent shooting on the night, and posted a 47-37 edge in rebounds.
The defenses dominated the first five minutes of the contest, as Stanford found itself ahead 5-2 mid-way through the first quarter. Oregon State would come back to take the lead at 6-5, and the teams would trade baskets for the remainder of the frame. The sides would head to the second period level at 10.
The Beavers held the Cardinal to just two points over the first seven minutes of the second quarter to go in front 17-12. The defenses would continue to rule the first half until Stanford hit a buzzer-beater to send Oregon State to the locker-room with a 20-18 advantage.
The third quarter featured more of the same, as the squads continued to clamp down defensively. The Beavers were able to create a little bit of separation late in the frame, going ahead by six before taking a 33-29 edge into the closing period.
Stanford quickly tied the score in the fourth quarter, evening things at 33 less than two minutes into the frame. The Cardinal would go ahead by three with four minutes to play. Wiese answered with a triple to level the score, before giving the Beavers the lead from the stripe with less than two minutes left. The teams would again trade baskets from there before Gulich helped the Beavers secure the advantage for good.
Overall, the Beavers shot an outstanding 54.5 percent from the floor in the fourth quarter, and hit four of their five free throw attempts in the frame.
Oregon State will host California Sunday morning at 11 a.m., as the Beavers celebrate Senior Day.
