Oregon State Women Survive Scare From Pepperdine, Win 69-68
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The Oregon State women improved to 6-1 in West Coast Conference play on Saturday in Malibu, California against the Pepperdine Waves.
Both defenses stepped up in the second quarter as scoring dropped off, but Jenna Villa for the Beavers and Seleh Harmon for the Waves kept the game tight. Villa's eight points in the second were half the Beavers scoring, but Harmon nearly matched her with five. An Ally Schimel layup gave Oregon State a one point, 36-35 lead as the half ended.
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Oregon State's shooting disappeared for much of the third quarter. A jumper and a layup early in the period were the only points the Beavers would get for a long time, while the Waves ran roughshod over the OSU defense. Pepperdine built a 14 point lead before Jenna Villa finally broke the Oregon State cold streak with a three, and a flurry of late scoring from the Beavers managed to get the Waves lead down to nine, 56-47, before the third ended.
That was still a big hole to climb out of, but Lara Alonso got the ball rolling with a three and a layup early in the fourth. Layups from Jenna Villa and Kennedie Shuler got the Pepperdine lead down to two before Elli Guiney hit a three to get it back up to five. Alonso and Villa hit a pair of layups to get the margin down to one, and an Alonso free throw tied the game with just over two minutes left on the clock.
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Bella Green gave Pepperdine the lead back with a layup before Villa hit a pair of free throws to tie the game again. A three from Lina Falk put the Waves in front with 1:11 left in the game, but with 10 seconds left Jenna Villa hit a layup with a foul on the attempt. She made her free throw, tying the game at 68.
It looked like the game was headed to overtime, but with less than a second on the clock Jenna Villa was fouled on an Oregon State inbound attempt, giving her two free throw attempts. She made one of her shots, giving Pepperdine 0.3 seconds to take the lead back. Meghan Fiso missed the jumper for Pepperdine, giving the Beavers a 69-68 win.
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Villa again led the team in scoring, with 25 points, four rebounds and an assist. Kennedie Shuler also put in a solid game, with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists. Lara Alonso had her one of her best games as a Beaver, with 10 points and six rebounds.
The Beavers next games will be one of the most important of the season, so get to Gill Thursday night if you can. Oregon State will be taking on Gonzaga, currently tied at the top of the WCC standings, with tip off set for 6 PM PT.
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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.