Sports

Oregon State pulls off an upset

January 20, 2018
No. 18 Oregon State women celebrating their victory over No. 7 Oregon Friday. — AP
No. 18 Oregon State women celebrating their victory over No. 7 Oregon Friday. — AP

CORVALLIS, Oregon — Oregon State’s Kat Tudor had an easy explanation for her career-night against rival Oregon.

“It was pure focus,” she said. “I was focused this whole week. Just uber-focused.”

Rivalry games will do that.

Tudor made seven 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 34 points, and No. 18 Oregon State snapped No. 7 Oregon’s nine-game winning streak with an 85-79 over time victory Friday night.

Marie Gulich added 28 points and 15 rebounds for the Beavers (14-4, 5-2 Pac-12), who extended their Civil War rivalry winning streak over the Ducks to 14 games.

Sabrina Ionescu had a career-high 35 points for the Ducks (17-3, 6-1), including a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left at the end of regulation that sent the game into overtime.

Gulich’s turnaround jumper with 1:42 left in the extra period gave the Beavers an 80-77 lead. She made one free throw to extend the lead.

Ionescu made two of three foul shots to close the Ducks within 81-79, but Katie McWilliams made a 3-pointer and free throw with 11.4 seconds left to put it out of reach.

“I don’t think I’ve been more excited in my life,” Tudor said about McWilliams’ 3.

Hebard finished with 24 points for the Ducks.

“In the end, I thought we were going to get them in overtime. We had the momentum,” Oregon coach Kelly Graves said. “We just didn’t make the plays.”

The Ducks announced shortly before the game that they would be without senior guard Lexi Bando because of a leg injury. No other details were available. The team said Bando, a starter averaging 10.5 points per game, will not be available for Sunday’s rematch in Eugene, either. McGwire started in her place.

Oregon trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, but Hebard’s layup tied it at 57 with 6:17 left in regulation. Her short jumper gave Oregon a brief 59-58 lead, but Gulich answered with a baseline jumper.

The teams traded the lead down the stretch. Mikayla Pivec made a 3-pointer to give the Beavers a 72-71 lead with 49 seconds left and Katie McWilliams added a pair of free throws. Hebard and Tudor both missed one of two free throws before Ionescu nailed a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left to send it to overtime.

The Beavers had jumped out to an early 17-8 lead after a 3-pointer and free throw from Tudor. She made another 3 to give the Beavers a 28-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. The sophomore guard led all scorers in the opening period with 10 points, including all three 3-point attempts.

Collectively, the Beavers made their first seven 3-point tries and nine of their first 10. They finished 13 of 26 from 3-point range.

Oregon closed the gap in the second quarter when Ionescu raced to chase a ball that rolled half-way across the court then calmly drained a 3-pointer to pull within 28-24. But the Ducks couldn’t get any closer than four points and trailed 42-36 at the half.

Maite Carzola’s basket to keep Oregon within 53-50 going into the fourth quarter and Hebard’s layup got the Ducks within one, but they were unable to get closer until Hebard tied it at 57 with a layup.

Oregon was off to its best start in conference play since joining the Pac-10 in 1986. The Ducks were coming off a 74-64 victory at home over then-No. 18 Arizona State. — AP


January 20, 2018
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