Oregon State
Arizona State
OSU Takes Down ASU as Wiese Makes History
February 14, 2015 | Women's Basketball
CORVALLIS - Sophomore Sydney Wiese made history and the No. 8/9 Oregon State women's basketball team maintained its lead in the Pac-12 conference, as the Beavers earned a crucial 70-64 win over No. 12/12 Arizona State Friday evening at Gill Coliseum. The game was played before 5,242 fans, as OSU won its 20th consecutive home contest.
Wiese etched her name into the Oregon State history book by knocking down her 179th career 3-pointer, becoming OSU's all-time leader in career long-balls.
The victory extends Oregon State's best start in school history, as they move to 22-2 overall and 12-1 in Pac-12 play.
“I'm so proud of the way out team played today,” said Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck. “Arizona State is a good team, and they played well today. It was a special night for our pink night and a great win for our program. I'm also really proud of our fans. It was another great crowd tonight, and that really helped us come through with this win.”
With the win, Oregon State takes a two-game lead over Arizona State in the race for the Pac-12 regular-season title, and maintains its one-game lead over California. The victory is also Oregon State's third over a top-15 opponent this season, a new school record.
Oregon State held the lead for the final 35 minutes of play, but Arizona State (21-4, 10-3 Pac-12) never gave in, as the game remained close until the final minutes. The Sun Devils cut the Beaver lead to three with 58 seconds remaining, but junior Samantha Siegner hit a contested jumper as the shot clock expired with 30 seconds to play to help secure the win for the Beavers.
Ruth Hamblin led the Beaver with 17 points, nine rebounds and six blocks, as she filled the stat sheet yet again. Wiese ended the day with 15 points and three assists. She hit her record-setting long-ball 14:04 remaining in the first half, as she passed Felicia Ragland to go atop OSU's all-time list. The sophomore set the record in her 59th career game, compared to Ragland's 118 career appearances. Wiese would go on to hit one more 3-pointer in the game to finish the day with 180 in her career.
Senior Ali Gibson scored 14 points and pulled down five boards.
As a team, Oregon State shot 51.1 percent in the contest, and 57.7 percent in the second half. The Beavers also shot 85.7 percent from the free throw line, their best output of the year from the charity stripe.
Oregon State used an early 13-4 run to jump out to an 18-10 lead midway through the opening frame. The Sun Devils would battle back from there, chipping away at the Beaver lead to get within two heading into the break at 29-27.
Gibson led the Beavers with 10 points in the first half.
The teams traded baskets early in the second half, as Arizona State moved within striking distance on multiple occasion, but Oregon State refused to concede the advantage. The Beavers would start to pull away seven minutes into the closing frame, when they used an 8-0 run to stretch the lead to double-figures.
The Sun Devils would not relent from there, cutting the edge to three within five minutes, before the Beavers were able to get the lead back to nine with just over four minutes remaining. Arizona State fought back once again to cut the lead to three with 90 seconds to go, but clutch free throws from Jamie Weisner and Siegner helped the Beavers earn the victory.
The Beavers are back at Gill Coliseum Sunday at 11 a.m., when they play host to Arizona.
