Oregon State
Washington State
Beavers Lose Heartbreaker to Washington State in Double OT
December 31, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2011
Corvallis, Ore. – After a back and forth battle, the Oregon State women's basketball team (10-3, 1-1 Pac-12) lost a 61-54 heartbreaker to Washington State (8-6, 2-0 Pac-12) in double overtime on Saturday afternoon in Gill Coliseum.
“That was a hard loss for our team,” head coach Scott Rueck said. “I was impressed by Washington State and its resiliency. We played a really good game. But that's a really good team, a veteran team, a team that's been battle-tested. We had them on the ropes and had a chance to win, but we didn't make the shots.
But I'm really encouraged for that reason. I'm disappointed that we couldn't get it done, but credit [Washington State] for getting it done and finishing. I couldn't be prouder of the effort that we gave, and I feel like this is a game that we'll learn a lot from and be able to finish in the future.”
Junior Patricia Bright (Phoenix, Ariz.) led all scorers with 13, adding a team-high nine rebounds, while freshman Ali Gibson (Woodbridge, Calif.) added 10 points.
Oregon State struggled from the free throw line, connecting 14 times on 24 attempts, 5-of-10 in overtime.
Washington State opened with the first points of the game to build at four-point lead at 5-1, but the deficit was quickly erased by the Beavers led by Gibson's back-to-back buckets to score five.
The Beavers didn't allow the Cougars to go on any runs through most of the first half while building their lead to as many as nine at the 22-13 mark. But Oregon State struggled from the field unable to score again for the last 7:13 of the half, while the Cougars went on an 8-0 run going into the locker room.
Washington State recaptured the lead coming out of the break, continuing its run and extending it to 12, but the Beavers returned the favor with a short 8-0 run of their own to lead by five at 30-25, the biggest of the second half.
A 12-1 run by the Cougars gave Washington State a 39-31 lead before the Beavers once again answered back with a 9-0 run that looked as if it might hold with 3:37 left as both teams then struggled from the field with Oregon State leading 47-44. But a three-pointer by Rosetta Adzasu tied things up forcing the first overtime.
The two teams traded free throws to knot things up at 49 all again. Bright hit 2-of-4 from the line as April Cook hit a floater to force a second overtime.
The Beavers looked to be in control heading into the final five minutes as junior Thais Pinto (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) knocked down a bucket, followed by a free throw by Gibson. But a pair of baskets by the Cougars, coupled with three missed free throws forced the Beavers to foul in the final minute of the game as Washington State shot a perfect 11-of-11 from the line on the game, 6-of-6 in the final 38 seconds.
The Cougars were paced by Jazmine Perkins with 11 points.
Oregon State heads to the Bay Area next to take on California on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in Haas Pavilion.
Oregon State Notes:
- Oregon State hasn't played an overtime or double overtime game since January 23, 2010 against California.
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