Oregon State
Stanford
Women's Basketball Nearly Upsets No. 4 Stanford
January 07, 2012 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2012
p>Stanford, Calif. (AP) – Freshman Ali Gibson (Woodbridge, Calif.) scored a team-high 16 points as the Oregon State women's basketball team (10-5, 1-3 Pac-12) nearly upset No. 4 Stanford (13-1, 4-0 Pac-12), but came up short in a 67-60 contest on Saturday afternoon in Maples Pavilion.
The Cardinal rallied from a rare halftime deficit, its second at home this season, to beat Oregon State led by Nnemkadi Ogwumike's 33 points and 16 rebounds.
“What a great game,” head coach Scott Rueck said. “Stanford is who they are. They finished this game the way champions finish games. I was so proud of our team though for battling the way they did, believing in themselves and bouncing back from a discouraging loss at Cal. Today, thanks to Ali Gibson in a large sense, she came out and performed fearlessly from the beginning. Our team jumped on her back, and I thought it was a great performance for our program.
Senior Earlysia Marchbanks (Salem, Ore.) and sophomore Alyssa Martin (Portland, Ore.) both had 12 points for scrappy Oregon State, which hung tough on both ends of the floor the entire way and gave Stanford one of its biggest challenges since a 68-58 loss at No. 2 Connecticut on Nov. 21.
Marchbanks tied the game with 11:39 left and junior Mollee Schwegler's (Rainier, Ore.) jumper the next time down put the Beavers ahead with 10:51 remaining. Stanford's Lindy La Rocque answered with a three-pointer for Stanford with 9:57 to go, and Toni Kokenis made a driving layin at 9:38 for a 51-46 lead.
At halftime, Oregon State certainly appeared poised for one of the biggest upsets of the season. The Beavers aggressively drove to the basket for easy points and made 15-of-23 first half shots for 65.2 percent — its best for a half all season — to the struggling Cardinal's 36.4 (12-for-33). Oregon State hadn't shot better than 36.8 overall its previous three games.
Gibson, Oregon State's freshman leading scorer and a product of nearby Stockton who averaged 13.3 points coming in, made 6-of-8 first half field goals to help the Beavers build a 35-31 halftime lead. It marked only the third time all season Stanford trailed at the break – at UConn and home against Gonzaga on Nov. 13.
After the Beavers took an 8-6 lead on Gibson's 3-pointer at the 16:17 mark of the first half, Stanford answered with a 10-0 run to go ahead but the Beavers hung tough for a 35-31 halftime lead.
Chiney Ogwumike added 20 points and 10 rebounds for Stanford, scoring 10 of her points during a 12-4 spurt to open the second half.
Oregon State returns home to Gill Coliseum to host Arizona State on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
Oregon State Notes:
- Stanford shot only 36.4 percent in the first half, the second-lowest of the season with the first being in its loss to UConn (34.4).
- The Beavers became the third team to lead the Cardinal at halftime, first non-ranked or receiving votes team, of the season.
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