Oregon State
Pac-12 Tournament - Quarterfinal #4
Beavs Coast By Utes And Into Semis
March 08, 2014 | Women's Basketball
SEATTLE, Wash. – Ruth Hamblin broke the Pac-12 single-season blocks record, Sydney Wiese poured in a game-high 21 points and the Oregon State women's basketball team handcuffed Utah in a Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinal in KeyArena on Friday night, burying the Utes 50-35.
With the win, the Beavers advance to their second Pac-12 Tournament semifinal, and first since 2002, to face seventh-seeded Washington State tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. The victory was also OSU's 10th in a row, the third-longest streak in program history and best since 1982-83. Oregon State (22-9) has won 22 games for the first time since that same 1982-83 squad went 24-6 en route to the school's first NCAA Tournament berth.
OSU won this game on the defensive end, stymying Utah to the tune of 21 percent shooting (13-of-62) from the floor. The Utes didn't make one 3-pointer and suffered a number of extended droughts.
Much of that was due to the play of Hamblin down low. The sophomore center tallied six points, 15 rebounds and five blocks for OSU. It was her fifth and final rejection which was her 120th of the season, passing Stefanie Kasperski (1988) for the top spot in Pac-12 history.
Utah's Michelle Plouffe, who scored 30 points in her team's upset of Washington on Thursday night, managed just 11 points on 4-for-17 shooting as the Beavers mixed and matched defenders on the all-conference performer all night.
Oregon State never trailed en route to the convincing win. Sydney Wiese scored a game-high 21 points, her fourth game of 20 or more this season. She made three 3-pointers and has connected on 97 this year, moving into second place in Pac-12 single-season history.
The Beavers used a late first-half run to put the game out of reach. Over the final 6:11 of the opening stanza, Oregon State outscored Utah 16-2. During that stretch, the Utes converted just one of their 11 attempts from the field and OSU took a 32-13 lead into the locker room.
