As the basketball season continues on, the Oregon State women’s basketball team traveled down to the University of Arizona to take on the No.8 ranked team in the nation. After a close matchup, the girls fell short, and the Wildcats came out on top with a score of 73-61.

The Wildcats made their first two shots of the night early on in the game, with Forward Sam Thomas making a second-chance layup and putting them on the board at 3-0. The Beavers responded with a 3-pointer made by Forward Kennedy Brown at 8:43, assisted by Guard Talia Von Oelhoffen. And not twenty seconds later, U of A put up three more points thanks to Lauren Ware’s 3-point jumper. Following the first two minutes included key plays made by the Beavers, including Guards Greta Kampschroeder and Tea Adams, Forward Ellie Mack, Brown, and Von Oelhoffen. The first quarter ended with Wildcats claiming their lead at 20-15.

The second quarter began with a layup made by Forward/Center Jelena Mitrovic, which gave the Beavers 2 points, changing the score to 20-17. The Wildcats persisted as the Beavers crept closer and made consecutive plays by players: Guards Shaina Pellington and Madison Conner, and Forward Koi Love. Thanks to these players, the Wildcats now stood leading the Beavers by 10 points. Kampschroeder, Von Oelhoffen, Guard Emily Codding, Adams, and Brown all contributed throughout the second quarter at upping OSU’s score, the Beavers trailed by just 2 points when the quarter ended, with a tally of 36-38.

The third quarter began as the Wildcats upped their score by 2 with a layup made by Beandu Yeaney on the fast break. OSU’s Brown responded with a made layup, quickly before Arizona scored again with a hook shot by Yeaney. Following this was Pellington making key plays for the Wildcats that sustained their lead over the Beavers, all free throws. It was a back-and-forth between both teams, with Von Oelhoffen and Forward Taya Corosdale scoring for the Beavers. And Forward Cate Reese and Thomas scoring for the Wildcats. Again, the quarter ended with the Wildcats on top with a score of 49-47.

The last quarter began right off the bat as the Wildcats scored 3 more points thanks to Conner. The Beavers fired back with a made layup by Mitrovic. Mitrovic, Oelhoffen, Brown, and Mack were determined to continue the fight until the very end for their team. Mitrovic contributing 4 points, Oelhoffen scoring 5 points, Brown with 2 points, and Mack with 2 points. The Beavers, despite their best efforts, lost to the Wildcats in the end with an ending score of 73-61.

As the game came to a close, the Beavers were led by Talia von Oelhoffen with 17 points in 31 minutes of play while the Wildcats leading scorer was Cate Reese who put up 19 points in 40 minutes. This loss puts the Beavers to 11-7 on the season.

Oregon State will continue their road trip, taking on the Stanford Cardinal on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022, at 2:00 PM at Stanford.