Oregon State Women Fall to Portland on the Road, 53-50
It's been a rough road trip for the Oregon State Women's Basketball team, as the Beavers picked up their second loss in a row with a 53-50 defeat at the hands of the Portland Pilots. The loss drops Oregon State to 17-8 overall, and 9-3 in the West Coast Conference.
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The game got off to a very slow start. After Tiara Bolden gave the Beaver an early lead with a jumper, there was no further scoring until right before the six minute mark. Scoring stayed low in the first, but both teams started finding openings near the end of the quarter, with both teams tied 11-11 at the end of the period.
Oregon State's offense didn't fare much better in the second, but their defense locked down the PIlots, allowing them only five points in the quarter. The Portland defense proved tough to score on, but Kennedie Shuler helped keep the Beavers in front with a six point quarter. Oregon State held a six point, 22-16 lead as the first half ended.
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Midway through the third quarter the Pilots found their rhythm. After whittling away at the Beaver lead, a three from Dyani Ananiev tied the game for Portland. Kennedie Shuler grabbed the lead back for Oregon State, but a Florence Dallow three as the clock expired cut the Beavers lead to two, 36-34, headed into the final quarter.
Oregon State hung onto a slim lead for much of the final quarter, but with 3:37 left in the game Dyani Ananiev gave the Pilots their first lead in the second half with a layup. The Beavers would tie the game a few times, but never got the lead back. With the game tied and a minute left to go, Florence Dallow hit another three to put the Pilots up 53-50. The Beavers got a few chances to tie the game, but missed every shot they took, making 53-50 the final score.
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After a really rough game against Gonzaga Thursday night, Kennedie Shuler bounced back somewhat on Saturday, finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds and 2 assists. No other Beaver hit double digits in scoring, with Katelyn Field the second leading scorer with eight points and seven rebounds. The Beavers only hit three three pointers Saturday afternoon, and Field accounted for two of them.
This week has dealt a critical blow to the Beavers chances of taking the top seed in the West Coast Conference tournament, but their not out of it yet. Next week they start with another critical game, hosting Santa Clara on Thursday, February 12th, before getting back on the road to face Pacific in Stockton on Saturday, February 14th. We'll see if they can bounce back from a rough pair of losses.
Having grown up in Pocatello, home of the Idaho State Bengals, John Severs is a lifelong fan of small schools that don't always deliver a lot of wins. Prior to writing for On SI, John covered the Beavers for SB Nation's Oregon State blog Building the Dam, with a focus on baseball and women's basketball. When he's not watching college sports he spends most of his time reading, playing video games and annoying cats.