Oregon State Women’s Basketball Falls In Pac-10 Season Opener To UCLA

As a team, Oregon State shot 41.7 percent from the field, while UCLA was at 44 percent.

Salem-News.com

LOS ANGELES - The Oregon State women’s basketball lost a tight decision to UCLA, 60-52, Friday night at Pauley Pavilion.

Alex Mitchell paced Oregon State with a career-high 24 points, surpassing her 23 points earlier this season against UNLV. Mitchell was 9-for-12 from the field and hit on six of her seven free-throw attempts.

Brittney Davis also reached double figures for the Beavers. She connected on five shots from the field, including two from beyond the three-point line.

The game marked the Pacific-10 Conference opener for both teams. The Beavers dropped to 9-2 overall on the year, and the loss snapped a six-game win streak, the team’s longest since the 2000-01 season.

UCLA, meanwhile, improved to 10-2 on the year.

Oregon State shot 36.5 percent from the field, and grabbed 32 rebounds, with Tiffany Ducker leading the team with 10.

The Beavers also managed 10 steals, with Ducker and Mitchell tying for the team lead with three apiece.

The Bruins, meanwhile, shot slightly better than 43 percent and were led by Nina Earl, who had 15 points. Overall, UCLA finished the game with 35 rebounds.

The Beavers trailed by as much as 13 with 12:16 left in the second half, and on the strength of timely shooting, pulled to within four, 52-48, with 3:53 remaining. But the Bruins, who 9-for-11 from the charity stripe on the night, sank all but one free throw down the stretch for the win.

Oregon State, meanwhile, was 13-for-15 from the free-throw line, a shooting percentage of better than 86 percent. That figure is slightly lower than the season high of .889 achieved in the season opener against Sacramento State.

Oregon State found itself down by one, 25-24, at the half. Mitchell led the Beavers with nine points in the first half on the strength of 4-of-6 shooting. As a team, Oregon State shot 41.7 percent from the field, while UCLA was at 44 percent.

Oregon State stays in Los Angeles until Sunday when the Beavers square off against USC at the Galen Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. PT. USC enters the game with a 7-5 overall record and 1-0 mark in Pac-10 play after defeating Oregon on Friday night.

The game can be heard live on KLOO 1340-AM, Beaver Nation Online (osubeavers.com) and Yahoo! Sports. Todd Mansfield will call all the action.

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