Oregon State Women Take Down Gonzaga 63-61, Advance to WCC Tournament Finals

Oregon State and Gonzaga split their regular season series earlier in the season, and with a spot in the WCC Tournament Finals on the line, Game 3 was sure to be one to remember.After battling back and forth all 40 minutes, a clutch fourth quarter performance from Kennedie Shuler gave the Beavers a 63-61 win.

Early threes from Tiara Bolden and Kelsey Rees put the Beavers in front early, with Oregon State holding an 8 point lead at the end of the first quarter. That lead did not last long in the second quarter, as Yvonne Ejim and Allie Turner combined to erase the Beaver lead in under 2 minutes.

As momentum swung toward Gonzaga, the Beavers struggled to score. Oregon State was outscored by Gonzaga 23-10 in the second, with Ejim and Turner doing most of the damage. A pair of free throws from Kelsey Rees managed to cut the Bulldog lead to 5, 32-27, as the first half ended.

Oregon State found their footing to open the third quarter, with AJ Marotte scoring five points over four minutes to tie the game while the Oregon State D contained the Gonzaga front court. Ejim and Turner again combined to put the Bulldogs back in front, but they couldn't put the Beavers away.

Threes from Tiara Bolden and AJ Marotte kept thigns close, and at the end of the quarter Gonzaga held onto a 2 point, 44-42 lead. Oregon State kept things close, but couldn't quite even things up with the Bulldogs until a pair of free throws from Catarina Ferreira with 39 seconds left in the game tied things up.

Kennedie Shuler picked off a bad pass from Bree Salenbien and hit a layup to put the Beavers in front with 34 seconds to go, but Gonzaga tied the game once again with a pair of Yvonne Ejim free throws. With 8 seconds to go the Beavers got the ball to Shuler and she drove to the rim, making the clutchest shot of her career to put Oregon State ahead with 0.8 seconds on the clock. Gonzaga managed to get the ball to Yvonne Ejim under the basket, but her layup went wide. Oregon State took the win, 63-61.

Catarina Ferreira led the Beavers in scoring, with 19 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists. AJ Marotte was right behind her, with 15 points, 4 rebounds and an assist. Kelsey Rees rounded out the top scorers with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. Kennedie Shuler only scored 4 points, but boy were they 4 points that mattered.

Oregon State is one win away from a West Coast Conference Championship and a trip to March Madness. They'll take on the winner of today's game between Washington State and Portland. Tip off for the Final is scheduled for 1:00 PM PT tomorrow, Tuesday March 11th.