On Monday evening, Jan. 27, 2025, at Gill Coliseum, the Oregon State University women’s basketball team lost to Washington State University 65-57. 

Before the game, OSU entered with a  5-5 record in the West Coast Conference, as conference fellow WSU sat at 7-4. 

Despite the loss, head coach Scott Rueck praised Gill’s energy: “It was another great crowd and really fun atmosphere.”

The tip-off between senior forward Kelsey Rees and sophomore center Alex Covill left the Cougars with the ball for the first 30 seconds of the game.

Coming out of the first timeout with 3:57 of the clock left, senior forward Sela Heide scored another two points for the Beavers, making the score an even 7-7. 

WSU showcased a strong defense, consistently grabbing rebounds from OSU. 

Senior guard AJ Marotte shot a buzzer-beater from the three-pointer to end the first period of the game. Despite the effort, the Beavers were off to a slow start, scoring only 12-15 within the first period and missing most shots.

Senior guard Tara Wallack of WSU sank another three-pointer for the Cougars, leaving the crowd stunned in silence. 

Not long after, freshman guard Ally Schimel kept the court alive by making the Beavers’ first three-pointer of the second period. 

The Cougars shot 10-13 of their three-pointers within the first half, while the Beavers only shot 3-16.

After the first half, the Beavers trailed 42-21.

WSU continued to dominate, with junior guard Astera Tuhina taking possession of the ball to start the second half, a pattern that had become routine for the team by this point in the game.

OSU’s defense faltered at the beginning of the third period, allowing WSU to consistently take and sink shot after shot. 

Moving into the fourth period, OSU still was behind 54-34, giving the Cougars a continued 20-point lead. 

Heide made the first three-pointer of the last period for the Beavers, followed by a fast rebound by senior guard Catarina Ferreira.

With less than two minutes remaining, Heide made a buzzer-beater three-pointer, narrowing the gap to 52-58. The Beavers added another three, but the Cougars answered with two points, extending their lead 55-59. 

Tuhina from WSU made both free throws, bringing the score up again and leading to another timeout with 38.9 seconds left on the clock. 

The game finished with a score of 57-65, showing a strong effort from the Beavers to come back, but ultimately not enough to beat the dominating Cougars. 

“We give Washington State a lot of credit for their shots in the first half…but overall [OSU] was a decent defense,” Rueck said, “I thought we were relatively close, and for them to knock their shots down…that was just an incredible display.” 

The Beavers’ next game is against Pepperdine University on Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. at Gill Coliseum.