It was time to prove that the Beavers are it and they executed.
With two final free throws made by junior Talia Von Oelhoffen and stellar three-pointers made by sophomore Lily Hansford, Oregon State Women’s Basketball cemented their win to spoil the Ducks on their home plate.
The Beavers held the lead throughout three quarters against the Ducks, and as they attempted to come back, the Beavers stood their ground to win 64-60 at Matthew Knight Arena, on Sunday.
“Her defense is so steady and her position is so good, she’s so smart,” head coach Scott Rueck said of Hansford.
Hansford stacked up 10 points with four assists, including a huge pass to sophomore Adlee Blacklock to secure a three-pointer that led the Beavers to gain some flow.
“Lily threw a perfect pass to the perfect spot…her skill set is high level,” said Rueck.
“Lily just hits big shots, that’s what she does in practice every single day and so we all have a complete trust and belief that she’ll knock it down and she always does,” said sophomore Timea Gardner on Hansford’s play.
Gardner also had a career night with 19 points, two assists, and five rebounds.
“I think my teammates found me in positions to score,” Gardner said. “Oregon has a good zone, they play majority zone and so I knew that being hard to find in the zone was definitely going to be key, so my teammates found me in places to score and knocked it down,” Gardner said.
The Beavers had a strong start in the first and with Gardner getting nine points, things got a bit slower in the third and fourth.
“We trust the game, trust in the work we’ve put in, and trust in each other and the shots are going to fall,” said Gardner on the teams’ confidence.
Confidence and trust fueled this Beavers team as they swept the Oregon Ducks for the first time since 2016-17. They proved that this team has the execution on the road in a classic, possibly final rivalry series conference game.
“I like our confidence. This team plays the right way and I think deserves to win. They know that they’ve earned that confidence so we got the defensive stops and made the offensive plays and I thought our execution down the stretch was fantastic,” said Rueck.
Up next, the Beavers are heading to Utah and Colorado on the road, Feb. 9 and 11, to face the University of Utah and the University of Colorado Boulder.