Pierce gives OSU a women's basketball win
January 5, 1999
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Sissel Pierce rebounded her own missed shot and scored the winning basket with 5.4 seconds left Monday night as Oregon State beat California 54-52 in Pacific-10 womens basketball at Gill Coliseum. Pierce finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots for OSU (9-2 overall, 1-1 Pacific-10), which got a career-high 17 points from Reda Kakeranaite.
"Were very pleased with this," OSU head coach Judy Spoelstra said of picking up the weekend split after Saturdays loss to Stanford. "Somebody asked if we would have preferred to play California first, but Im glad we played Stanford first. We needed to play them first and learn what it was like in the Pac-10. Give our younger players credit - they learned quickly."
California (6-5, 0-2), which lost its 21st straight conference road game, was led by Shavaki Jacksons career-high 20 points. The 6-foot-4 freshman scored 16 points in the second half and helped Cal come back from a 10-point second-half deficit to lead briefly near the end of the game.
"Im disappointed. We wanted to come out with a split," said Cal coach Marianne Stanley, whose team lost at Oregon on Saturday. "Im sure OSU felt the same way ... it was a winnable game for both teams, but they made more big plays than we did."
The final one came with the shot clock winding down. Freshman Felicia Ragland, who had hit two key 3-pointers earlier in the half, came up short on a long try from the right side and Pierce controlled the rebound.
"I knew I didnt have a lot of time," said Pierce, whose quick shot bounced off the rim. She rebounded her own miss, though, and laid the ball in to give OSU a 54-52 lead.
"That was good presence of mind by Fe (Ragland) and Sissel to know the situation," Spoelstra said. "Fe for throwing it up, and Sissel for catching it and putting it in - it was pretty exciting."
Cal then called two timeouts before inbounding the ball under its own basket with 5.4 seconds left. Sherrise Smith dribbled almost the length of the court but couldnt get herself clear for a shot; her twisting attempt in the key as time expired didnt get near the rim.
Ericka Brosterhous came off the bench to score nine points for Oregon State, which got eight assists from Syesha Thomas and six big points from Ragland.
With Cal rallying and the game tied at 46, Ragland hit a 3-pointer from the left side to put the Beavers up 49-46 and temporarily break the Bears momentum. After Jackson scored in the key to put Cal up 50-49, Ragland connected from the same spot to give OSU a 52-50 lead with 54 seconds remaining.
"They were sagging on Sissel," Ragland said of the Bears. "They kicked it to me and I was open, so I shot it. My range is usually inside the 3, but we were down - I had to put it up."
Cal scored the games first 11 points, as OSUs first seven minutes on offense resulted in six turnovers and six missed field goals. Finally, Pierce hit a short turnaround shot with 12:46 left in the first half to break the ice; that started a 22-7 Beaver run that helped OSU to a 25-20 halftime lead.
Kakeranaite had 12 of her points in that outburst, going 6-for-6 from the field, and scored 10 straight Beaver points at one juncture. Many came on the fast break off assists by Thomas.
"We had the fast break cooking in the first half," Spoelstra said. "Its nice when you have a game like that, where you get that going early."
During that stretch, Cal turned the ball over eight times, shot 3-for-13 from the field and 1-for-3 at the line, and both missed free throws were the front end of one-and-one situations.
"We played better in the second half," Stanley said. "But youd like to have the other team chasing you ... I was disappointed with our offensive output throughout the game, but especially in the first half."
OREGON STATE 54, CALIFORNIA 52
CALIFORNIA (54) - Ashbaugh 2-8 1-2 5; Bowie 2-13 0-0 6; Leander 0-3 1-2 1; Johnson 3-7 3-3 9; Smith 1-5 2-2 5; Jackson 9-14 2-3 20; Corley 1-2 0-0 2; Kennon 1-2 0-1 2; Forney 0-0 0-0 0; Lewis 1-2 0-1 2. Totals 20-56 9-14 52.
OREGON STATE (52) - Arnold 1-7 1-2 3; Ragland 2-7 0-0 6; Pierce 7-12 0-1 14; Cha. Wiersma 0-1 1-2 1; Che. Wiersma 0-1 0-0 0; Brosterhous 2-2 5-7 9; Morris 0-3 0-0 0; Kakeranaite 8-13 1-4 17; Thomas 0-1 0-0 0; Salea 1-1 2-4 4. Totals 21-48 10-20 52.
Halftime score: Oregon State 25, California 20. 3-point shooting: California 3-8 (Bowie 2-5, Johnson 0-1, Smith 1-2), Oregon State 2-10 (Arnold 0-3, Ragland 2-4, Che. Wiersma 0-1, Morris 0-1, Thomas 0-1). Rebounds: California 35 (Johnson 7), Oregon State 35 (Pierce 9). Assists: California 12 (Bowie 5), Oregon State 16 (Thomas 8). Fouled out: Thomas. Technical fouls: None. Total fouls: California 17, Oregon State 15. Attendance: 504.
