Beavers Top USC in Overtime Thriller

Oregon+State+sophomore+forward+Kennedy+Brown+tips+off+with+a+USC+player+to+start+their+overtime+round+against+USC+on+January+28%2C+2022.+Browns+last+minute+shot+would+give+the+Beavers+the+victory+over+the+Trojans+by+a+score+of+63-61.+%0A%0A

Matthew Mckenna

Oregon State sophomore forward Kennedy Brown tips off with a USC player to start their overtime round against USC on January 28, 2022. Brown’s last minute shot would give the Beavers the victory over the Trojans by a score of 63-61.

The Oregon State women’s basketball team worked their way past the University of Southern California Trojans by a final score of 63-61 in Gill Coliseum on Friday night.

Trailing by seven with just 2:12 left to play in the fourth quarter, the Beavers used a 7-0 run over the next 55 seconds to tie the game, capped off with a three-pointer from Oregon State freshman guard Talia von Oelhoffen. Over the final 1:15 of the fourth quarter both defenses held strong, sending the game into overtime.

“I loved the way that we closed,” said Oregon State women’s basketball head coach Scott Reuck. “We picked it up defensively, created some turnovers, gave ourselves some opportunities and hit big shots down the stretch.”

After a back and forth affair in the overtime period, the score was tied at 61 a piece with just 16 seconds to play, and the Beavers called a timeout to set up their offense.

After intentionally chewing up the clock, Oregon State redshirt-senior forward Ellie Mack had a jumper blocked with three seconds left, which was rebounded by the Trojans.  After a deflection off the blocked shot, Oregon State sophomore forward Kennedy Brown took possession and laid it in with a second left, proving to be the game-winner for the Beavers.

“To be honest it was kind of a blur,” Brown said.  “I just knew that I needed to get the ball and get a shot up. [And] I knew Ellie was going to get something, and after the tip I just went up for the ball strong.”

Von Oelhoffen put up a monster performance for the Beavers, scoring a career-high 31 points and adding seven rebounds and four assists.  Von Oelhoffen is the sixth OSU player to score 30 points in a game during Rueck’s 12-year tenure.

“I just try to create as much as I can,” said Von Oelhoffen.  “I think the offense got better as we went on, they were doing a pretty good job shutting down the rim in that first half so we just had to be more aggressive.”

Von Oelhoffen put up a phenomenal 18 points in the 4th quarter alone to help the Beavers complete their comeback.  Brown put up 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Oregon State redshirt-junior forward Taya Corosdale had six points and eight boards of her own.

On the other side of the court, Rayah Marshall led the Trojans with an impressive 17 point, 12 rebounds performance.  Jordyn Jenkins scored 12 and Alyson Miura had 10 to round out the Trojans’ double-digit scorers.

With the overtime win, Oregon State improves to 10-5 overall on the year and 3-2 in PAC-12 play.  Next up, the Beavers will take on the UCLA Bruins on Jan 30th at Gill Coliseum, with a 2 p.m. tip off.

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