Beavers beat Oregon by 19

With the 68-49 victory over the University of Oregon on Sunday, Oregon State women’s basketball swept the Civil War series in less than one week.

After opening the game on an 11-0 run, the Beavers (9-9, 3-3 Pac-12) never lost their lead during the entire 40 minutes. The closest Oregon (2-16, 0-4) came was within three points at the end of the first half.

Oregon State’s lead increased to 14 points midway through the first half, when the Ducks went on a 14-5 run to close the gap coming into halftime.

“I felt like we lost focus a bit,” said head coach Scott Rueck. “I felt like Oregon increased intensity to get control of the game and get back in it. That has been an Achilles’ heel for us all year.”

The Beavers’ lack of focus led to three careless turnovers which the Ducks capitalized on, and sloppiness on the defensive boards. Oregon had 11 offensive rebounds in the first half, five of which came in the last five minutes.

Defensive rebounding has been a struggle this season for the Beavers in conference play (ninth in the Pac-12). Although they are second in the conference for defensive field goal percentage, they allow other teams to grab their misses and put the ball back up.

The story was no different against Oregon, who shot only 25.8 percent from the field but grabbed 24 offensive boards.

“[Rebouding] is a discipline that we are OK at, I wouldn’t say we are good at it yet,” Rueck said. “To win in this league at the highest level against the best teams, that’s the difference.”

The difference maker in this game was execution from the Beavers in the second half. Going into halftime, Oregon had momentum on its side, but the Beavers quickly turned the tide.

“At halftime we talked about once we are up, don’t get comfortable and let them try to run and take a lead on us,” said sophomore guard Ali Gibson. “And we just had to come out with intensity and finish the game strong.”

A pivotal point for the Beavers came when freshman guard Jamie Weisner hit her first 3-pointer of the game five minutes into the second half. Junior guard Alyssa Martin immediately drained another 3-pointer off a steal, making the score 44-34.

“That certainly gave us separation and I think we kind of relaxed and we executed down the stretch,” Rueck said.

Freshman forward Samantha Siegner put up a career-high of 10 points against the Ducks. While earlier in the season she looked a little lost on the court, the freshman is showing more poise on both ends of the floor.

“She’s given a great consistent effort from about December on, and we are seeing the fruits of that,” Rueck said. “She is highly skilled, she can score inside and out, and she is going to those strengths against match ups.”

Gibson scored 14 points, to go along with five rebounds and five assists. She opened with the game’s first score, a 3-pointer, and never let off the gas. Gibson played a key role in the Beavers’ fast breaks, converting two Molly Schwegler steals into layups, and assisting Weisner for an easy bucket.

Oregon State looked strong in its two-game series against the Ducks this week. The win on Sunday gives the Beavers five straight Civil War victories. They will need to take their momentum and confidence on the floor into their next games.

“I think we had more patience today and we figured out a way to score,” Gibson said. “Contain on defense and hopefully we can take that momentum to our next games on Washington.”

Sarah Kerrigan, sports reporter

On Twitter @skerrigan123

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