Oregon State
UCLA
Marchbanks Leads Late Rally, but Beavers Lose to No. 9 UCLA
February 12, 2011 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 12, 2011
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) - Junior Earlysia Marchbanks had 17 points and four rebounds to lead the Beavers, leading a late 14-point rally, but Oregon State came up short, 58-48, against No. 9 UCLA on Saturday in front of a season-high 2,118 fans in legendary Gill Coliseum.
“This game, I loved our intensity defensively," Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck said. "Offensively, [UCLA] is an elite defensive team for a reason. They have a great athlete at each spot and it keeps us off balance. It's a tough matchup for us because of their speed at each position – there isn't someone out there that we can pick on. You just look around and you look for a break in the gap and there aren't many against UCLA.
So I thought tonight we sustained our intensity for longer periods and that's just sign of improvement with this team. So I was proud of the effort.”
Markel Walker scored a season-high 18 points and No. 9 UCLA used an 11-2 run to start the second half to beat Oregon State 58-48 on Saturday.
Jasmine Dixon added 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals for the Bruins (21-2, 11-1 Pac-10), who led by as many as 21 points in the second half before Oregon State (8-16, 1-12) got as close as seven in the closing minutes.
UCLA scored the first seven points of the second half to go ahead 35-20 and later led 48-27 on Rhema Gardner's basket with 9:57 remaining.
Oregon State then scored its 14 straight points during a stretch of four and a half minutes, the last seven by Marchbanks, to close within seven with just under five minutes remaining.
“She's a spark," Rueck said. "El [Sara Greer] sparks us defensively with her blocks and hustle plays inside. Earlysia's able to that on both ends of the floor. Her offensive rebounding has been a key. In the second half she was kind of in control of that game for a stretch. Getting every hustle play and then putting the ball in the basket. She is probably the one player on our team that can beat people off the dribble consistently."
Oregon State remains home next Saturday when it hosts Oregon in the second Civil War meeting, presented by PacificSource Health Plans, at 5:00 p.m. Catch the game live on 1340 KLOO-AM in the Corvallis area, 1550 KKAD-AM in the Portland area or through Beaver Nation Online (osubeavers.com). Ron Callan will call all of the action.
Oregon State Notes
· Senior El Sara Greer has 79 blocks on the season, needing six more to tie the school record 85.
· Junior Earlysia Marchbanks earned her eighth double figure points game with 17, second straight.
· Freshman Alyssa Martin tied the sixth most three-pointers made in a single season with 57, one in the game.
