CORVALLIS, Ore. — Coming off a 33-point loss at No. 3 Oregon, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ had something to prove when it stepped on the court Sunday against No. 9 Oregon State.
And the 12th-ranked Wildcats (19-4, 8-4 Pac-12) delivered a definitive statement with a 65-58 overtime win, snapping an 11-game losing streak against Oregon State dating to the 2011-12 season. It was ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s first road win against a Top 10 team in program history.
“It feels great,†said junior guard Aari McDonald, who scored 22 points. “Today my team showed a lot of toughness and we stuck with ’em and we finished it out."
Oregon State (19-5, 7-5) struggled to get an open look in overtime and was just 1 for 7 from the field. The Wildcats also made just one field goal in overtime, but it was a big one. Sam Thomas hit a 3-pointer with 1:16 left — her only points of the game — that extended the lead to 61-56.
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ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ never trailed in overtime and was 6 for 6 at the foul line.
Oregon State beat ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ 63-61 in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ on January 10 on Mikayla Pivec’s game-winning shot in the lane with 1 second left.
The rematch was just as closely contested.
“I thought we did a really good job of kind of controlling the end of the game, and we hit some shots,†ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ coach Adia Barnes said. “Luckily for us, they’re a great team and they’re a great shooting team, (but) they didn’t hit some shots that they normally hit."
Neither team had a good shooting game. ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ made 34.9% of its shots but was 15 of 15 at the foul line. Oregon State shot 39% from the field but committed 14 turnovers to six for the Wildcats.
Dominque McBryde scored 19 points and Cate Reese had 13 points for the Wildcats. McDonald, the Pac-12’s leading scorer, was 8 of 23 from the field. She had nine rebounds and four steals.
Pivec led the Beavers with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Destiny Slocum had 11 points and 10 assists, and Aleah Goodman scored 10 points.
Barnes was pleased with the Wildcats’ resolve coming off their most lopsided loss of the season.
“It shows our character because I felt like we didn’t show who we were on Friday. We got our butts kicked,†Barnes said. “I didn’t feel like we competed."
The Wildcats certainly competed against Oregon State.
The Beavers played without starting forward Kennedy Brown, who sustained a knee injury in the first quarter of Friday’s win over No. 19 ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ State. Her absence led to different rotations.
“There will be new roles and we’ll have to embrace that,†Goodman said.
Oregon State’s Kat Tudor drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game at 50-all with 6 minutes left, and neither team had more than a two-point lead for the remainder of regulation.
Reese scored in the paint to give the Wildcats a 56-54 lead with 1:51 remaining in regulation. Taylor Jones’ layup tied the game at 56-all with 1:25 left, and neither team scored again until overtime.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ had the final possession of regulation, but McDonald’s 30-foot shot at the buzzer was well short.
“Give ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ a lot of credit,†Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. “They hit big shots, played great defense (in) the second half."
Oregon State led by as much as seven points in the first half and held a 36-31 advantage at the break.
BIG PICTURE
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥: The Wildcats play four of their last six regular-season games at home, where they are 10-2. ... ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s only losses this season have come to teams currently ranked in the Top 10 — No. 9 Oregon State, No. 3 Oregon and No. 10 UCLA. … McDonald extended her double-figure scoring streak to 60 straight games, the longest in the country.
Oregon State: The Beavers could move out of the Top 10 for the first time this season. … Rueck did not have a definitive update on Brown’s status. She is second on the team in rebounds and blocked shots. ... Pivec became the ninth player in school history to score more than 1,500 career points.
UP NEXT
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ hosts Washington on Friday.
Oregon State plays at USC on Friday.
