Oregon State
Oregon
Women's Basketball Falls To Oregon, 71-67, In Pac-10 Opener
January 05, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2001
CORVALLIS, Ore. -
Felicia Ragland's game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds weren't enough, as Oregon State dropped its Pacific-10 Conference opener to rival University of Oregon 71-67 on Friday night.
The Beavers fall to 8-3 on the season and 0-1 in the Pac-10 while No. 24 Oregon improves its record to 8-3 and 1-0 in Pac-10 play.
In a game where almost all of the statistics were even, the Ducks held one key advantage - free throws. Oregon buried 15-of-21 free throws on the night while Oregon State converted only 5-of-12 charity tosses, including just 1-of-4 in the final 35 seconds.
Oregon's Angelina Wolvert started the scoring with a layup off of a Kourtney Shreve steal at the 18:50 mark. The Beavers tied the score three times in the first half but were unable to take the lead.
Alison Edwards buried a 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining in the half to give the Ducks their largest lead before intermission at 28-21, but the Beaver reeled off four straight to go into the locker room trailing just 28-25.
Both squads shot an identical 12-for-27 (.444) from the field in the first half with the difference in scoring coming from a pair of 3-point baskets and one free throw from the Ducks.
Much remained the same in the second half, with Oregon taking a slight lead and then Oregon State rallying to keep the game close. Momentum began to shift in favor of the Ducks around the 10-minute mark when senior Brianne Meharry converted two consecutive old fashion 3-point plays which gave UO its biggest lead of the game, 53-43.
The Beavers would not go away however, and whittled the Oregon lead to 62-60 when senior Syesha Thomas sank a 3-pointer with 2:48 remaining on the clock.
Once again it was Oregon's turn, as the Ducks scored six of the game's next seven points to earn a seven-point cushion.
Ragland then connected from downtown and stole a pass on the press for an easy bucket to put the Beavers back in position, trailing just 68-66 with :51 seconds to play. The rest of the points would come from the charity stripe as Oregon State managed just 1-of-4 free throws while Oregon sank 3-of-4 from the line to seal the victory.
"I'm really proud of our effort," commented OSU head coach Judy Spoelstra. "I thought our kids came out and played really hard, we were very, very aggressive and focused on defense."
Ragland finished a spectacular night, leading all players in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. The 5-9 junior showed why she earned All-Pac-10 honors as a sophomore, connecting on 10-of-19 shots from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the 3-point arc while dishing out a season-high six assists. Ragland also added four steals and pulled down 10 of her 11 rebounds in the first half. Ericka Cook and Thomas also reached double figures in scoring for the Beavers with 11 points each.
Meharry led the Ducks with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and a 5-for-6 clip from the free throw line. Lindsey Dion sank 7-of-9 field goals to finish with 14 points while Wolvert just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine boards.
The Beavers shot a scorching 64-percent in the second half (16-25) including 6-of-7 from 3-point range while the Ducks buried 15-of-24 buckets (.625) and converted on 13-of-19 free throws.
Oregon State returns to action Thursday night when the Beavers host Stanford University. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
