Oregon State WBB: Beavers Fall To Arizona 72-69

Jan 7, 2023 - 6:05 PM

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With just three minutes left in their Friday night game against the 15th ranked Arizona Wildcats, it looked like Oregon State was headed for a second straight upset win. The Beavers were up 12 with minutes left in the game, but a furious comeback from the Wildcats gave Arizona a 72-69 win. The loss drops the Beavers to 9-6 overall, and 1-3 in conference play. Arizona meanwhile improves to 13-2 overall, and 4-1 in the Pac-12.

Noelle Mannen gave the Beavers the first points of the night, but most of the first quarter was a back and forth battle. The Beavers began to pull away at the end of the quarter, whensix points from AJ Marotte helped OSU build a five point lead.

Marotte scored 5 straight at start of the second to stretch the OSU lead, and the Beavers kept the pressure on for the rest of the first half. Raegan Beers started to make her presence felt in this quarter, capping off the second with a last second jumper to put the Beavers up 8 at the half, 38-30.

Oregon State stayed in front for most of the third, but Arizona shifted into another gear toward the end of the quarter, scoring 8 points in the final two minutes to tie the game headed into the fourth. That would be foreshadowing for the end of the game.

Oregon State managed to regain their lead a few minutes into the fourth, with Raegan Beers and Bendu Yeaney leading the charge. With 3:57 left in the game the Beavers were up 12, and that’s when things started to fall apart. Esmery Martinez started the Wildcat comeback with a pair of free throws. Helena Pueyo then added a layup, and back to back three pointers from Lauren Fields got Arizona within 2. Fields then tied the game with a layup, and a three from Pueyo gave the Wildcats there first lead of the second half with 1:29 left on the clock.

A Bendu Yeaney layup was matched a jumper from Arizona’s Shaina Pellington, and then a Talia von Oelhoffen layup got OSU within 1 with 28 seconds left in the game. The Beavers were forced to foul to get the ball back, and when Lauren Fields missed one of her free throws it looked like the Beavers had a shot. Unfortunately, von Oelhoffen missed her jumper. With time running out Shaina Pellington also missed one of her free throws, so the Beavers had one last chance, but they’d need a three to tie the game, and Talia’s attempt bounced off the rim.

Raegan Beers once again led the team in scoring, adding another double double to her resume. She finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. AJ Marotte had an amazing game, with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Talia von Oelhoffen rounded out the top scorers, with 12 points, 5 assists and 1 rebound.

Up next for the Beavers is a Sunday morning matchup at Arizona State. Tip off is set for 10:00 AM PT. Following that, Oregon State will be back in Corvallis next weekend for games against the Washington schools.