Oregon State
BYU
Women's Basketball Ends Season With Loss To BYU
March 16, 2001 | Women's Basketball
March 16, 2001
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University's women's basketball season came to an end Friday with a 78-63 loss to Brigham Young University in the opening round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
BYU jumped in front, 19-14, after burying 7-of-8 shots from the floor in the opening 11 minutes of action. Oregon State closed to within one (19-18) after a pair of Hollye Holbrook free throws at the 8:12 mark but back-to-back 3-pointers by Heather Cheesman started a 11-0 Cougar run and the Beavers would never recover.
BYU buried a scorching 15-of-29 shots (71-percent) in the opening half and canned 8-of-9 3-pointers to build a 41-29 lead at intermission.
OSU hit 12-of-27 (44-percent) from the floor before the break.
"We laid a defensive egg," commented Oregon State head coach Judy Spoelstra. "They nailed every open 3-pointer we gave them."
Oregon State could get no closer than 12 points (47-35) after a Brina Chaney lay-up with 16:01 remaining.
Brigham Young extended its lead to as many as 24 points with just under four minutes remaining in the game.
The Cougars finished the game shooting 61-percent from the field, burying 25-of-41 field goals and 10-of-20 from long range while the Beavers connected on just 23-of-61 field goals (38-percent and hit only 3-of-10 shots from beyond the arc.
Brigham Young held Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year Felicia Ragland to just 15 points and 5-of-13 shooting from the floor and kept the junior guard frustrated for most of the night. Ericka Cook added 14 points for the Beavers while Holbrook finished with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
Erin Thorn's 21 points led all players while teammate Stacy Jensen knocked down 5-of-6 field goals including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc to finish with 19 points for the Cougars.
"We only had one returning starter this year and I think throughout the season we really improved," said Spoelstra. "We should be even better next year."
The Beavers finish the season with a 16-13 record, their best mark since the 1995-96 season (19-9).
