The Oregon State Women’s Basketball team defeated the UCLA Bruins 72-58 on Sunday, in Gill Coliseum in front of a crowd of 4,341. This game was the team’s annual Dam cancer game, community members were invited to donate a minimum of eight inches of their hair after the game.
Head Coach Scott Rueck spoke pridefully of the Dam cancer initiative after the game:
“Our pink game is always special, breast cancer awareness is something that has been something that we’ve honored and supported over the years. It’s always been a special day. Andrea Aquino donated her hair today along with some community members. It’s very special sacrifice, it’s something that we’ve always looked forward to ever since Ruth Hamblin started that trend back in 2016”
The Beavers never trailed in the game, jumping off to an 11-2 lead with 5:11 to go in the first quarter. They ended the quarter up 15-11 after UCLA’s Natalie Chou made a three-point shot with 39 seconds to go.
Freshman Talia Von Oelhoffen led the Beavers with 21 points, six assists, two rebounds, and one steal and block. She played for 26:04 and didn’t touch the floor in the second quarter. Von Oelhoffen combined for 52 points on the weekend, scoring 31 points in Friday’s matchup against USC. The Beavers beat the Trojans 63-61 on a last second layup by Sophomore Kennedy Brown.
In the second the Beavers started strong with Redshirt Junior Taya Corosdale hitting a three 11 seconds into the quarter. OSU went on a 10-3 run in the first 4:50 of the period and totalled for 17 points while holding UCLA to 11. Redshirt Senior Ellie Mack had six of her 15 points in this quarter, and Corosdale also had six of her 18.
UCLA came out strong in the third quarter, going on a 10-2 point run to bring the score to 34-32 with 4:25 left in the period. The Beavers held strong through and ended the quarter outscoring the Bruins 10-5 and went into the fourth leading 44-37.
Oregon State’s Brown picked up her third and fourth fouls in the quarter, which Scott Rueck touched on during his press conference. “…Kennedy getting her second foul early then her third and fourth, so you know it’s one of those figure it out days and I thought this group just did a really good job figuring it out”
With 4:35 left in the fourth quarter UCLA pulled within two of the Beavers. OSU responded by going on a 19-4 run to close out the game before the Bruins made a three with one second left.
When asked what impressed him the most about the 19-4 run, Rueck responded. “We executed very well on both ends. We gave up one three look that I didn’t like but beyond that I thought we defended them pretty smart. You know we probably didn’t rebound quite as well as we would have liked to, but you know but I just thought our decision-making offensively is just getting better.”
The Beavers next take on Arizona State and Arizona on February 4 and 6 respectively. When the Beavers and Wildcats faced off earlier this season, Arizona won 55-53 on a last second shot. The game against the Sun Devils was postponed and hasn’t been rescheduled yet.