Oregon State
Notre Dame
Beavers Battle No. 3 Notre Dame to Wire
December 29, 2015 | Women's Basketball
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 9/10 Oregon State women's basketball team battled back from a 13-point third-quarter deficit to take a late lead, but could not hold off No. 3 Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish took a 62-61 win Monday evening in South Bend, Ind.
The Beavers were ahead with 3:05 to play, but a late surge from the Irish gave Notre Dame the win.
“This was a great battle,” said Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck. “This is a place that's used to winning. I'm very proud of our team. The way we competed, the composure we showed and the fight we displayed bode well for our future. We've got a lot to learn, both about things we need to improve and things we did well.”
The Beavers played their second-consecutive game without the services of Naismith Trophy candidate Sydney Wiese, who missed the contest due to injury.
Junior Gabriella Hanson scored 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting to lead the Beavers in scoring for the second-consecutive game. Senior Ruth Hamblin notched a double-double, going for 10 points and 12 rebounds after putting up 12 points, eight rebounds and nine blocks in OSU's contest against Notre Dame two years ago.
Senior Jamie Weisner finished with 15 points and six rebounds, while classmate Deven Hunter recorded seven points and eight boards.
Overall, the Beavers held a 46-33 edge in rebounds and shot 36.7 percent (22-for-60) from the floor.
The Beavers got off to a strong start, opening the game with buckets from Hunter and Hamblin, and holding the Irish without a field goal for the first six minutes to take an early 8-3 advantage. The Beavers held a 13-12 lead at the first quarter-break, but a Notre Dame surge would give the Irish a 21-18 edge midway through the second frame.
The Beavers would bounce back with an 8-0 run to jump ahead 26-21, but Notre Dame would battle back to take a 30-26 lead in to the intermission.
The Irish extended the edge to double-digits early in the third quarter, but Oregon State answered with 13-2 run to get within two late in the frame. Oregon State would roar back in the fourth quarter, tying the game up with just under seven minutes to play. The Beavers would proceed to take the lead with 5:06 remaining, and were ahead as late as the 3-minute mark, but the Irish would battle back to retake the lead. Freshman Katie McWilliams hit a pair of free throws with less than a second on the clock to cut the Notre Dame edge to one, as the Beavers came within a point of handing the Irish just their fifth home loss in the last five years (Connecticut twice, Baylor and Virginia).
Oregon State hit seven of its 10 second-half 3-point attempts to help propel its late run.
The Beavers will open Pac-12 play Saturday, when they head to Los Angeles to take on USC in a game that will air on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 Los Angeles.
Tickets for all Beaver home games are available at BeaverTickets.com or by calling 800-GOBEAVS.
