OSU Women’s Basketball Comes Close, But Can’t Upend UCLA

Oregon State took a six-point lead into halftime, 38-32, shooting 61.9 percent from the field, including five three-pointers.

Brittney Davis scored 18 points, but the Oregon State women’s basketball team could not upend UCLA, losing to the Bruins, 74-70, Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion. Photo courtesy: OSU Athletics

LOS ANGELES - Brittney Davis scored 18 points and Talisa Rhea added 17, but the Oregon State women’s basketball team could not upend UCLA, losing to the Bruins, 74-70, Saturday afternoon at Pauley Pavilion.

The game wrapped up the first half of Pacific-10 Conference play for the Beavers, who are now 10-10 overall and 3-6 in league games. UCLA, meanwhile, improved to 11-9 overall and 6-3 in the Pac-10.

Davis posted double-figure points for the 14th time this season, going 5-for-12 from the field.

Rhea, the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Week, scored 17, 15 of which came off five three-pointers. Over the last three games, Rhea, who leads the team with 51 baskets from beyond the three-point line, has hit 17.

Oregon State shot 51.1 percent from the field, knocking down 23 of their 45 shots. The Bruins, though, were able to attempt 65 shots and made 30 (46.2 percent).

Tiffany Ducker led the Beavers on the boards, collecting seven of Oregon State’s 31 rebounds. Mercedes Fox-Griffin led the team in assists with five. Alex Mitchell was effective as well with eight points and six rebounds in the game.

As a team, Oregon State was very effective from behind the three-point line, hitting 10 of its 14 attempts.

The Bruins were led by Lindsey Pluimer’s 18 points and eight rebounds in the game.

The Beavers came out in the second half led by Davis, who scored six straight points in the first two minutes to put Oregon State up, 44-38.

After the Bruins cut the lead to one with 14:42 in the first half, Allen and Rhea responded with a three-pointer apiece to extend the lead to 52-47.

Pluimer’s layup gave UCLA its first lead of the day with 9:14 left in the second half. After a UCLA run that put the Bruins ahead, 67-57, two Alex Mitchell free throws and back-to-back baskets by Davis closed the lead to 67-63 with 2:36 left in the game.

Oregon State took a six-point lead into halftime, 38-32, shooting 61.9 percent from the field, including five three-pointers. The Beavers were able to hold UCLA to 35.1 shooting during the half.

Allen came out particularly strong for the Beavers, as Oregon State took a 5-0 lead through the first minute and led 14-6 at the 13:55 mark of the first half. Allen scored 10 points during that stretch, connecting on two three-pointers.

A three-pointer from Rhea, at 11:43, gave Oregon State a 19-5 lead and prompted a UCLA 30-second timeout. The three-pointer marked the first of eight straight points for Rhea, whose jumper at 10:24 gave the Beavers a 15-point advantage.

Oregon State’s defense held true through the first 10 minutes of the first half. After a basket by Doreena Campbell at 15:37, the Bruins weren’t able to score again for four more minutes, allowing OSU to get up by 14.

Oregon State hits the road again next weekend when it takes to the desert to face the Arizona schools. First up for the Beavers is Arizona State Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The game is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. MT (5:30 p.m. in Corvallis).

Catch the game live by visiting www.osubeavers.com or Yahoo Sports. The game can also be heard by tuning into KLOO 1340-AM in the Corvallis area. Todd Mansfield will be behind the mic calling play-by-play.

OSU Notes: The game ended the first half of Pacific-10 Conference play for the Beavers, who will play five of its next nine games on the road … Oregon State next returns home February 7th against California … on February 9th in a 7:00 PM start, the Beavers will take on Stanford as OSU also takes part in “Think Pink” … Fans attending the game will have the chance to help with breast cancer awareness … Tickets to the game are just $1.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports