Oregon State
Arizona
Women's Basketball Falls To Arizona, 78-59
February 17, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2005
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State's women's basketball team dropped a 78-59 decision to University of Arizona in Thursday night's Pacific-10 Conference action.
Oregon State (6-19; 1-14 Pac-10) kept the game close from the start, but the Wildcats (18-8; 10-5 Pac-10) used a 20-4 run during the middle of the first half to take a 32-14 lead with 3:54 on the clock.
Mandy Close broke a four-minute OSU scoring draught and sparked an 11-0 Beaver run to close out the half and pull within 32-25.
Close buried a jumper to start the second frame, bringing the Beavers within five points (32-27), but Wildcats had an answer to every Oregon State bucket.
"We really played hard tonight and the girls deserve a lot of credit," said OSU head coach Judy Spoelstra. "There was a lot of good team play."
Six straight points from senior guard Jessica Mellinger pulled the Beavers within four points (59-54) with 5:27 left, but Wildcat All-American guard Dee Dee Wheeler scored 10 straight points and Arizona closed the contest on a 19-4 run.
"We had a lot of momentum to pull us within four points, but Wheeler really took it away," said Spoelstra. "We got a little hurried, had a couple of turnovers that went right into their hands, and it went down from there."
Close led the Beavers with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, pulled down four rebounds, dished out a pair of assists and had two steals. Kim Butler also reached double figures in scoring with 10 points. A trio of Beavers - Shannon Howell, Karen Vickery, and Mellinger - scored nine points on the night.
Four Arizona players reached double figures in scoring with Wheeler's 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting leading the way.
Oregon State shot 36-percent for the game while Arizona held a 53-percent clip. The Wildcats won the battle of the boards, 38-31.
OSU closes out the regular season home campaign on Saturday when the Beavers host Arizona State University at 7 p.m. Beaver seniors Mellinger and Howell will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony.
