Oregon State
California
Women's Basketball Falls To Cal, 72-60
February 08, 2001 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2001
BERKELEY, Calif. - For the second time this season Oregon State's women's basketball team let their game with California slip away. The Beavers led by as many as 16 points on Thursday night but the Golden Bears rallied for the 72-60 victory.
Oregon State drops to 11-9 overall and 3-7 in the Pac-10 while California improves to 9-11 and 5-6 in the conference.
In a game that was nearly identical to OSU's 79-72 loss in Corvallis on Jan. 14, the Beavers dominated the first half only to struggle in the second frame.
OSU All-America candidate Felicia Ragland continued her torrid shooting, scoring 19 first half points on 7-of-14 shooting including a 5-for-6 clip from 3-point range in the opening half. The junior guard also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds before the break.
Ten OSU turnovers over the opening 12 minutes of action allowed Cal to stay in the game. Kenya Corley's jumper at the 8:36 mark brought the Golden Bears within one (15-14) but the Beavers used a long-range barrage to pull away. Four consecutive 3-point baskets, two from Ragland and a pair from senior Syesha Thomas, extended Oregon State's lead to 11 points (27-16) with 5:11 remaining. Ragland's fifth 3-pointer of the half gave OSU it's largest lead at 32-18 and a pair of Nicole Funn free throws with just one-second left gave the Beavers a 36-24 advantage heading into the locker room.
The Beavers buried 7-of-10 from beyond the arc and out-rebounded the Bears 20-10 over the opening 20 minutes.
Oregon State extended its lead to 41-26 at the 16:18 mark but Corley reeled off 12 straight points for the Golden Bears as Cal out-scored OSU 28-11 over the next eight minutes. Corley's free throw with 8:48 remaining gave Cal the lead for good (53-52).
The Bears out-scored Oregon State, 48-24 in the second half and held the Beavers to just 19-percent shooting (7-of-37) while Cal hit 52-percent of their field goals (12-of-23).
The Beavers managed just 12-of-24 free throws in the game while Cal knocked down 21-of-30 from the line.
"We just didn't play smart basketball," commented OSU assistant coach Stephanie Norman. "Offensively we kept the ball on the perimeter in the second half and we just sat back on defense and let Cal do what they wanted."
Ragland finished with a career-high 30 points on 11-of-28 shooting and tied the Oregon State record for 3-point baskets made in a game with a 6-for-12 effort. Funn, a sophomore, was the only other Beaver to reach double figures in scoring with 11 points.
Forney led the Bears with 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting and a 6-of-7 mark from the charity stripe.
OSU finished the game shooting just 31-percent (20-of-65) while Cal hit 47-percent of its field goals (23-of-49).
"We just haven't been able to put 40 minutes together, I'm looking forward to the day we do," said Norman.
Oregon State returns to action Saturday when the Beavers face Stanford University. OSU is looking to sweep the Cardinal for the first time in school history. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
