Beavers Bite Wolves, 66-46

Shayla Corder led Western Oregon with 11 points.

Tiffany Ducker scored 19 points in addition to 10 rebounds, two blocks, and two steals as the Lady Beavers defeated the Lady Wolves, 66-46. Photo courtesy: OSU Athletics

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Tiffany Ducker recorded her first double-double of the year and Stacy Nichols set a career high with 12 points as the Oregon State women’s basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season, defeating the Western Oregon Wolves, 66-46, Tuesday night at Gill Coliseum.

Ducker came up big in the post, scoring 19 points in addition to 10 rebounds, two blocks, and two steals. Nichols, meanwhile, registered a career-high 12 points, in addition to her five rebounds and two blocks. Her previous career high was eight points.

“We grinded it out tonight and played a very feisty Western Oregon team,” Oregon State head coach LaVonda Wagner said. “We came away with a win which is always great. It wasn’t pretty, but we closed the door on that one. We’ll move on and learn from it.”

In the first half, the Beavers were able to get out to a 35-21 lead thanks to the combined efforts of Ducker and guard Brittany Davis. Ducker collected 12 of her 19 points in the first half to go with five rebounds and two blocks.

Davis recorded eight points and dished out three assists. The Beavers held Western Oregon to 31.8 percent shooting in the first half while forcing 16 turnovers.

Western Oregon began to make a run in the second half, cutting the lead to five points with 16 minutes remaining.

Oregon State was able to extend the lead back to 10 when Mercedes Fox-Griffin stole the ball and put it in for two to bring the lead back to 46-36 with 11:50 left.

Oregon State guard Talisa Rhea came up big in the second half, scoring all of her nine points on 3-of-10 shooting (2-of-7 from beyond the three-point line). Rhea also recorded two of her three steals in the second half.

Griffin had eight points in the win, while posting a team-leading four steals.

As a team, Oregon State made Western Oregon pay for their mistakes, scoring 30 points off of turnovers. The Beavers were effective in the paint, outscoring Western Oregon, 36-26.

Oregon State now takes 10 days off from play. The Beavers will next see action Nov. 23 at the Lady Rebel Invitational in Las Vegas.

Oregon State opens with Montana on Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. The team’s second game of the tournament, scheduled for Nov. 24, will be either UNLV or Richmond, depending on first-game results.

The game was also WOU's final exhibition contest of the pre-season. They will take on Humboldt State and Cal State San Bernardino this weekend at a tournament in Belmont, Calif.

Source: OSU Athletics/WOU Athletics

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