CORVALLIS, Ore.—The 17th ranked Beavers came out firing early and often Thursday morning in front of a crowd of mostly elementary school children at the Gill Coliseum. Oregon State, who entered the game leading the NCAA with a 44.2 three-point field goal percentage, shot 36 percent from long range to score the 75-53 victory over Idaho.
The Vandals did a good job of holding Oregon State below its season averages. The Beavers entered Thursday 16th in the nation, averaging 84.0 points per game. They shot 45.5 percent from the field, finishing below their 48.6 percent average (10th NCAA).
“It is kind of pick your poison with this team when it comes to what you want to do,” head coach Jon Newlee said. “It is hard to take everything away from them. We collapsed down on [Ruth] Hamblin inside and it left some of their three-point shooters open.”
Oregon State (6-0) asserted its dominance right from the game's opening tip. The Beavers opened on a 9-2 run, forcing Idaho into a quick timeout 3:25 into the game. OSU gained a 14 point lead off a Sydney Wiese three-pointer with 14:46 left on the clock. Idaho fought off the Beavers with a 16-10 run over a span of 8:42, cutting the lead to 31-25—thanks to a Maren Austgulen layin—with 1:21 to play in the half. The Beavers closed the final 1:21 on a 4-0 run to take a 35-25 lead into the break.
“I thought we really battled today,” Newlee stated. “I was proud of the way we came out in attack mode. We had some really good looks in that first half and defensively we were doing what we wanted to do. They have some real good three-point shooters and we knew they would hit some. We got some great looks, they just did not go down for us.”
Oregon State out-scored the Vandals 40-28 in the second half to secure the win. The Beavers shot 51.5 percent from the field in the final twenty minutes. Idaho went 11-for-35 (31.4 percent) in the second half, improving upon its 28.6 percent first-half shooting performance. The Beavers used a 13-0 run midway through the half, to put the game out of reach with a 25-point lead at 64-39.
Idaho (3-3) got another 20-point effort from senior Stacey Barr. She led all scorers with 21. Barr's efforts pushed her past former Vandal Yinka Olorunnife and into seventh on Idaho's all-time scoring list. She now has 1,395 career points. Junior Christina Salvatore hit double-digits for the fifth time this season. She finished with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Freshman Geraldine McCorkell scored seven of Idaho's 12 bench-points.
The Silver and Gold look to rebound against Multnomah on Sunday. They will play their first game of the season in the Cowan Spectrum. Idaho will be looking for its first home win of the season in its second attempt. Opening tip is set for 2 p.m. PT.
Notes:
Idaho has now hit a three-point field goal in its last 205 games…Ali Forde moved into a tie for 4th all-time with Alyssa Charlston with 128 career blocks…Barr now has 204 career three-point field goals, one shy of moving into a tie for second all-time…She has scored in double figures in 43 of the last 46 games (20+ 20x)…Salvatore has hit a three-pointer in 18 consecutive games.
