Oregon State
Washington
Women's Hoops Outlasts Washington to Nab Pac-12 Opener
December 29, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2011
Corvallis, Ore. – Junior Sage Indendi (Livingston, Mont.) and freshman Ali Gibson (Woodbridge, Calif.) combined for 27 points, as the Oregon State women's basketball team outlasted the Washington Huskies, 60-55, to open Pac-12 play on Thursday evening in front of a crowd of 1,332 in Gill Coliseum.
Gibson scored a team-high 14 points, shooting just over 50 percent (6-of-11), while Indendi tallied a season-high 13 points with nine of those points coming from three-point range. Senior Earlysia Marchbanks (Salem, Ore.) pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, while going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line – the first time in her career.
The Beavers (10-2, 1-0 Pac-12) outrebounded the Huskies 44-40, pulling down 15 offensive boards. Oregon State counted 15 assists to its 21 made baskets, while outblocking Washington 5-2 and counting 10 steals to the Huskies' eight.
Oregon State scored 19 points off of Washington's 15 turnovers, and 13 points on fast breaks to the Huskies' two. Washington's Marjorie Heard was the only bench player to score with a basket in the second half, while sophomore Alexis Bostick (Oakland, Calif.) and junior Thais Pinto (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) combined for eight points.
Washington (8-3, 0-1 Pac-12) won the tip to open the game and looked as if its game plan was to muscle inside with Regina Rogers and Mackenzie Argens scoring 20 of the team's 22 first half points in the paint. Despite Oregon State opening the game with the first four points, the Huskies went on a 14-2 run to lead by as many as eight in the first half.
But Gibson sparked an Oregon State 16-0 run midway through the first half, scoring six of her 14 points on a pair of three pointers to open the stretch.
“In the beginning of the game, [Washington] dominated us in position and physicality, and then I love how our posts rose to the challenge and they competed and found a way to change shots,” head coach Scott Rueck said. “Then the rest of our team found a way to slow down the passes, and I just really love how we competed tonight. A lot of people had big moments in this game, and everyone stepped up.”
The Huskies were unable to score for nearly eight minutes of play as the Beavers stepped up their defensive intensity to count five steals on Washington's eight first half turnovers, adding two blocked shots.
Oregon State got to the line eight times in the first half, connecting on six attempts, while also counting four three-pointers to Washington's one to lead 34-27 at the half.
Sophomore Alyssa Martin (Portland, Ore.) opened the second half on a three-pointer to give Oregon State another double-digit lead, while the two teams exchanged buckets. Oregon State's lead was boosted to as many as 12 on another Martin three-pointer with 7:03 remaining, but a Husky surge, led by Rogers brought Washington back within six with just under three minutes left.
With the final minute winding down, Charmaine Barlow hit a crucial jumper followed by a Mercedes Wetmore's deep three to cut Oregon State's lead to three at 58-55. But a steal by Marchbanks and two clutch free throws by Indendi in the bonus ended Washington's comeback, sealing the game in favor of Oregon State.
Washington's Rogers led all scorers with 19 points.
Oregon State returns to action on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off against Washington State in Gill Coliseum.
Oregon State Notes:
- Junior Sage Indendi scored a season-high 13 points.
- Senior Earlysia Marchbanks counted her fourth double-figure rebounds game. Marchbanks also tied her career-high for steals with six.
- Freshman Ali Gibson tallied her eighth double-figure points game.
- Oregon State's eight team fouls is a season low.
- Oregon State is now 28-47 all-time against Washington, winning the last two meetings. The last time the Beavers were on a 2-0 streak against the Huskies was in 2008-09.
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