Oregon State Women's Basketball: Beavers Take Down Toreros 58-50
Oregon State took down the San Diego Toreros 58-50 Saturday afternoon, for their fourth win in a row. The Beavers now stand at 13-13 overall, and 9-6 in conference play.
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As with several other Beaver games this season, a close first half set the table for Oregon State taking control in the third quarter. Kelsey Rees led the charge for the Beavers, scoring six points in the first 5 minutes of the game
After the first quarter the game was tied 16-16, but as the second quarter wore on Oregon State's shooting went cold. The game also got more physical, and San Diego took advantage of that to take a lead with consistent free throw shooting. As the second quarter ended, Sela Heide made a layup to end a four minute Beaver scoring drought, and head to the locker room down 28-26.
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The Beavers took over the game in the third quarter, and AJ Marotte was a big part of the reason why. Marotte went 3 for 3 on three pointers in the quarter. That scoring, combined with a strong defensive effort from Kelsey Rees and Sela Heide, allowed the Beavers to build a 46-39 lead by the end of the quarter.
Oregon State's front court sealed the win in the fourth quarter. Kelsey Rees and Sela Heide were the Beavers leading scorers on Saturday (Rees with 17 points and Heide with 16), but it was their ability to control the rebounding game that was the different maker. The Beavers out rebounded the Toreros 36 to 26, and out offensive rebounded the Toreros 13 to 5. That led to 10 second chance points, which sealed the win.
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The Beavers have done well against the bottom of the West Coast Conference standings in the past couple weeks, but that soft schedule ends this week. On Thursday, the conference-leading Gonzaga Bulldogs will be coming to Corvallis for a rematch. The Beavers narrowly beat the Bulldogs 71-67 in their first meeting this season, and getting a season sweep against Gonzaga would be a big statement. Tipoff is set for 6 PM PT on Thursday, February 13th.
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.