OSU Women's Basketball Overcomes Deficit but Comes up Just Short at Arizona

osubeavers.com

(Tucson, Ariz) - The Oregon State women’s basketball team, led by redshirt sophomore Sage Indendi’s (Livingston, Mont.) 17 points, overcame a 15-point second half deficit but came up just short to Arizona, 65-67, in the final seconds on Sunday afternoon in McKale Center in front of a crowd of 1,832.

Three other Oregon State players reached double-digits for points with freshman Alyssa Martin (Portland, Ore.) adding 14, senior El Sara Greer (Waterloo, Iowa) racking up 12 and junior Earlysia Marchbanks (Salem, Ore.) with 10.

Greer added five blocks, well over her 2.9 average, with Marchbanks leading the team with four assists and freshman Alexis Bostick (Oakland, Calif.) chalking up four steals. Greer also had a team-high eight rebounds.

The Beavers (7-6, 0-2 Pac-10) came out hot to start the game beyond the arc hitting three buckets from long range, coupled with a free throw by Martin on the Arizona technical foul to take an early 10-2 lead at the first break.

Arizona (11-2, 2-0 Pac-10) strung together a 9-2 run to get back in the game, but Indendi continued to be a big threat from long range, hitting 3 of 5 halfway through the first half to continue to give the Beavers the edge.

The Wildcats took their first lead at 22-21 on an Ify Ibekwe three-pointer with the two teams trading the lead before Ibekwe gave the team its biggest lead of the day so far on a made free throw with 6:37 left to go in the half at 26-23.

Arizona extended its lead to as much as seven before another Indendi three-pointer from deep made it a four point game at the final media timeout of the half with 3:59 left on the clock.

Greer hit back-to-back layups to make it a three-point game, but Arizona quickly built its lead back up on a free throw and Reiko Thomas’ three-pointer. With seconds left in the half, Indendi hit a short jumper to make it a five-point game at the half with the score 32-37.

The Beavers opened the second half shooting 3 of 4 from three-point range to tie the game at 42 all quickly. But Arizona went on a 16-4 run to build its lead to 12 at the 58-42 mark with just under 11 minutes to play in the game.

Greer and Martin scored three layups for Oregon State, but Arizona answered every time to maintain a double-digit lead as the second half continued. Three straight points from sophomore Angela Misa (Oceanside, Calif.) brought the Beavers back within single digits at the 56-65 mark.

A layup by Marchbanks made it a seven-point game before hitting a big three-pointer to make the score 63-67 with 3:31 left in the game, scoring the team’s last seven points and leading the Beavers on a 13-2 run.

Arizona was ice cold from the field, not hitting a field goal for the final eight minutes, scoring its two points on free throws. Still down four points, Martin was fouled in three-point range and knocked down a pair of the three free throws to make it a two-point game at 65-67.

With a chance to tie or take the game, a final turnover sealed the game with the Beavers falling just short in the final seconds to Arizona.

Arizona’s Shanita Arnold led the Wildcats with 17 points and seven assists. Ibekwe earned a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

The Beavers outshot the Wildcats 46.2 percent (24-52) to 39.3 percent (24-61) with the only difference shooting-wise was Arizona hit three more free throws.