The cold and gloomy weather isn’t the only thing back in Corvallis, as the Oregon State Women’s Basketball team is back in Gill Coliseum and earned a win, 63-56, on Tuesday afternoon.
The Beavers were returning home after nearly a month away, and not with the results they had hoped for.
They are sitting at 2-5, including having a four-game losing streak sandwiched in between their two lone wins. That said, coming off one of the previously mentioned two wins, a 54-49 victory over Boston College, stood as a great sign of change in the right direction.
OSU played host to the Grambling Lady Tigers, who themselves also sat at two wins on the year, and also welcomed over 7,000 local elementary through junior high students for the district’s “field trip day.”
The Beavers jumped out to a fast first half, taking the lead quickly. Senior Kelsey Rees led the team in the first half in points and rebounds, with 11 points and seven rebounds.
“You have to be more focused to hit the rebound, you have to think about it more and more aggressively. Overall (I think) that it has improved and it showed,” Rees said on her great rebounding performance.
She also had the best shooting line being 4-9. Despite being a little over 35% in shooting, the team was over 60% in shooting free throws. The Beavers forced seven turnovers, which in part with their 22 points from the paint, led to their 29-20 halftime lead.
“Grambling played a very scrappy, tough game,” head coach Scott Rueck said on the win today. “Through all that, I’m proud of us establishing (ourselves) on the inside, it was a good win, and I’m proud of the effort.”
The second half opened with 13 straight points by the Beavers. However, after out-scoring the Tigers in the third, the fourth would see Grambling come all the way back and make it a five-point game.
Off the back of senior Sela Heide, the team ran off six straight points, five from Hedie, which would re-give the Beavers the comfortable lead. They then held out, to their victory.
The squad was led in scoring by Heide with 16, and impressively, Rees and her would both finish the day with double-doubles, Hedie with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Rees with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
A whopping four players on the day hit double digits in points scored when it was all said and done. And on top of it all, Rueck would net his 300th career home win, making him the most-winning head coach at home in school history.
“It’s great to win, we have had a lot of great times.” Rueck said about his historic achievement, “It’s an opportunity to reflect, you can’t do it too long, but it’s a very special moment.”
The Beavers’ next matchup would see them take on the Pacific Tigers, on Thursday at 6 pm.