The No. 8 Oregon State women’s basketball team, wearing pink uniforms for “DAM Cancer” night, defeated Colorado 73-50 at Gill Coliseum for their 11th-straight victory.

The Beavers (21-3, 12-1 Pac-12) started the game slow, outrebounded 11-6 in the opening 10 minutes by the Buffaloes (6-18, 1-12). OSU never held a lead larger than four in the first quarter, and found themselves down by two points on a few occasions. At the end of the first period, the Beavers lead 20-16.

“I really was impressed by Colorado, the way they started the game tonight,” head coach Scott Rueck said. “They started the game very confident.”

The Beavers finally created some separation, breaking out to a six-point lead off a cross-court transition pass from junior point guard Sydney Wiese to senior guard Jamie Weisner, giving Weisner a game-high 10 points through 16 minutes. Sophomore forward Marie Gulich hit a pair from the free-throw line moments later, and OSU led 31-23.

Gulich sent the Beavers into the locker room with another two points off of a missed layup by Wiese that fell right into the hands of Gulich with seconds left in the first half. At intermission OSU was leading Colorado 37-28.

After it looked like OSU would run away with the game towards the end of the third period, the Beavers had a scoring drought for over three minutes, and the Buffaloes were able to close the gap to a ten-point game. Moments later, however, Wiese put the Beavers up 50-37 with a three-pointer as the shot clock expired. At the end of the third quarter, OSU led 56-42.

The Beavers were able to ride their lead the rest of the way, by as much as 27 in the fourth quarter. Weisner led the team with 16 points and Wiese finished with 15 points, five rebounds, and eight assists. Senior center Ruth Hamblin played with a defensive mind, ending the night with six rebounds and four blocks.

“In the second half we came out with a lot more energy and had more of a sense of urgency, and tried to make them more uncomfortable,” Wiese said.

OSU will look to continue their streak against Utah on Sunday at Gill Coliseum.

“There’s still a lot of basketball left to play against tough teams,” Weisner said. “We just have to stay focused and come out every night.”

Postgame notes:

Despite a spirited effort throughout the game, the Buffaloes only managed to lead for a total of 48 seconds of game-time, which was all in the first quarter.

The Beavers, who lead the country in field-goal percentage defense (30.9 percent), allowed Colorado to shoot 33.3 percent, OSU’s highest shot percentage allowed since facing them on the road, allowing the Buffaloes to shoot 34.4 percent in that game. The Beavers have not allowed a team to shoot more than 44.6 percent in any game this season.

In support of OSU’s annual DAM Cancer game and in honor of all those who have struggled with cancer, Hamblin donated her hair in a special post-game ceremony. Her hair will be used to make wigs for cancer patients.

“What Ruth did at the end, how cool was that,” Rueck said. “It’s such a unique thing and I’m proud of her for that.”