For the second straight year, Beavers win the Pac-12 Championship

With a 55-45 win over Cal in Berkeley, Calif., and help from No. 14 UCLA’s 74-61 victory over No. 9 ASU, the No. 7 Beavers (25-4, 16-2 Pac-12) are tied for first place in the conference with the Sun Devils, giving OSU a co-share of the title.

After losing to Stanford on Friday night, OSU needed help in order to retain the Pac-12 title. UCLA turned out to be that help, as the Bruins defeated ASU on Sunday to give the Sun Devils their second conference loss, and force a tiebreaker between OSU and ASU.

Because OSU beat ASU in the head to head matchup earlier this season, the Beavers will enter the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament as the No. 1 seed.

OSU rebounded strongly from Friday night’s 22-point loss at Stanford, which snapped their 14-game win streak. The Beavers led 14-8 after the first quarter and 24-17 at halftime. OSU went cold in the third quarter, and the Golden Bears (13-16, 4-14) took a 37-32 lead with 2:38 left. However, the Beavers closed the period on a 7-0 tear to take a 39-37 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Cal tied the game 39-39, but OSU responded with a 15-0 run to take a 54-39 advantage with 3:26 remaining in the game. Sophomore forward Marie Gulich had back-to-back baskets for a 43-39 lead and senior guard Jamie Weisner a 3-point play for a 46-39 advantage.

OSU was helped by a dominant performance from senior center Ruth Hamblin, who finished with 11 points, 19 rebounds, and six blocks. Hamblin moved into second place in the Beaver’s all-time rebounding list and only needs nine blocks to become the Pac-12 career leader in that category.

The Beavers outrebounded Cal 41-30 and held the Bears to 32 percent (19-60) shooting. OSU held its opponent to 54 points or less in 16 of its 18 conference games, and in 24 of 29 games overall.

Even though OSU is tied with ASU in the final conference standings, the Beavers own the head-to-head tiebreaker from a 67-44 win over the Sun Devils on Feb. 1, which gives them the No. 1 seed in the Pac-12 tournament in Seattle. OSU will play in the second round on Friday.