After the second score of the game, Kaya Ingram placed the basketball in her opponent’s, Kelsey Rees’, hands.

It was an encapsulation of the night, where the Santa Clara University women’s basketball team lost 68-51 when they took on the Oregon State Beavers in Gill Coliseum on Thursday night. 

The game was never close, and there were only a few short times after the first quarter when the Beavs didn’t lead by double digits.

The Beavers faltered a little in the second and third quarters as Santa Clara’s offensive leader, Olivia Pollerd, was able to build momentum. Pollerd went zero for six in the first period, but was able to build up enough steam to end the night with 21 points. 

“Any good player is going to get going at some point,” guard Kennedie Schuler said. “So it’s just a matter of not letting her (Pollerd) keep going, and I think we did a better job of that in the fourth quarter.”

OSU had SC beat in the rebounding game, with 47 rebounds against the Broncos’ 30, including 15 offensive rebounds versus four. The offensive rebounding made a difference, as the Beavers made 20 of said rebounds into second-chance points.

“I thought you saw a lot of progress in our team,” head coach Scott Rueck said. “I loved our defensive effort and energy, I loved our positioning, that we made things really difficult for them. And you have to, because they’re very skilled.”

Senior guard AJ Marotte led the Beavers in scoring, with 18 points on the night, 12 of which were from 3-pointers, a season-high from deep.

Five players scored in the double digits, another record this year. Of those five players, Schuler marked seven assists without a single turnover, as well as three 3-pointers. Forward Sela Heide was valuable off the bench, scoring 12 points. 

“I think my confidence has just gone up all season,” Marotte said. “We’re really comfortable at home, so getting that before we go on the road next week is huge.”

Other than Pollerd, guard Kaya Ingram was the major scorer for the Broncos, with 14 points. Due to fouling issues from the Beavers, she was given eight chances for free throws, where she sank seven. 

Four other players scored for Santa Clara, including Georgia Grigoropoulou, the team’s rebounding leader with seven boards and seven points.

Rueck, looking back on the season playing against Western Coast Conference teams, eagerly looks ahead towards the future.

“Now, second time around, you kinda know who they are, things are a little bit more personal, it’s a little bit more fun because of that… Previous, you know, in our old lives, everything was kinda personal. We had so much history and everything, it was easy to get up for games,” Rueck said.

This win brought OSU to fourth place in the WCC standings, gaining a spot over Saint Mary’s College. 

“The experience that we have together as a group, combined with the experience we now have with the teams in this conference, has led to a ton of growth, you know, second time around, playing them all… it’s way more fun because you’ve got a little bit of history now, with them. So it just means more.”

The Beavers have three games left in the regular season. Their last matchup, and last home game of the regular season, is next Saturday, where they face off against the University of San Diego, meeting them for the second time in just two weeks. 

“I just love the way this team’s getting better and better,” Rueck said. “Their work ethic is elite, I mean, every day they come in with a great attitude, they’re hungry. It’s in some ways sad that it’s nearing the end. If we win the national title it’s 41 days… that’s the max we have remaining together, you know, and our best basketball’s still ahead of us.”