Beavers' late comeback thwarted by WSU

The Oregon State women’s basketball team battled back from a poor first half to make it a game against Washington State on Friday night at Gill Coliseum.

But in the end, the Beavers’ comeback came up just short as they dropped their seventh contest in a row.

The Beavers (9-16, 3-10 Pac-12) took 30 shots in the first half, but just six of them found the bottom of the net. It was almost as if the rim was protected by some invisible force field, allowing next to nothing pass through. By halftime, the Beavers had only scored 16 points and trailed the Cougars (10-14, 6-7 Pac-12) by 13 points.

“One of the things we talked about at halftime was that we were getting great looks, the ball was just not going in,” said head coach Scott Rueck. “I thought we were executing well enough to not only be in the game, but to be ahead.”

When the second half rolled around, the shots did start to fall for the Beavers, and they slowly chipped away at the Cougars’ lead.

Still, they found themselves down by nine with just 1:57 to go in the game. It was then that Oregon State made an unbelievable run. In full-desperation mode, the Beavers employed a full-court press that caused three Washington State turnovers that the Beavers turned into points.

In a matter of moments, the Beavers had tied the game at 49 with 32 seconds left — but Washington State had the ball.

Washington State freshman guard Lia Galdeira brought the ball up and watched the clock tick down to eight seconds before making her move. She drove from the top of the key to the free throw line, got stopped by a double team, and had to hoist a quick turnaround jump shot from the elbow. It went in.

Down two with 2.5 seconds left, the Beavers designed a play for freshman guard Jamie Weisner. She came running around a screen at half court before stepping out of bounds and giving the ball back to the Cougars.

However, Khadidja Toure was able to intercept Washington State’s following inbounds pass to give the Beavers a second chance. Unfortunately for the Beavers, their ensuing play was well defended and the clock expired before OSU could get a shot up.

“Shots aren’t going to fall every game,” Weisner said. “You just have to keep playing with your heart. That’s one thing somebody can’t take from you night in and night out, is your heart. I thought we fought down the stretch and had a chance to stay in this game.”

The Beavers’ current losing streak began with an overtime loss to Washington on Jan 25. The Beavers will host Washington (18-6, 10-3 Pac-12) tonight at 6 p.m.

“We’ll be ready to go Monday night,” Rueck said. “We’ve got another tough game against another good team, but that’s life in this conference.”

The Beavers have not eclipsed 50 points in their last five games and will need shots to start falling again to stay competitive against the Huskies, who beat Oregon by 26 on Friday.

Mitch Mahoney, sports reporter

On Twitter @MitchIsHere