There’s less than two seconds left in the game, and the score is 59-59. Forward Kelsey Rees attempts a jumper. The buzzer sounds, the ball hits the rim, and goes through the net.

This secured the win for the Oregon State University women’s basketball team over the University of San Francisco in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference tournament this Sunday afternoon. 

The game started out with a confident USF team, who opened up with a 5-0 lead. They kept the first quarter low-scoring, ending it behind OSU 12-10.

However, it was the end of the first that led to guard Catarina Ferreira picking up steam.

Ferreira, who averages 9.3 points a game, banged off three treys in the first half, which combined with the rest of her game to give her 17 points before halftime. The last time she scored this many points was in a non-conference match against the Miami Hurricanes.

“I knew they were going to, like, back up and let me shoot the threes because I’m usually more of a driver, but it’s something I’ve been working on, my three point shot, and I was confident,” Ferreira said. “If the ball comes out of the paint, I’m shooting.”

The Beavers ran an effective zone defense for much of the first half, controlling the posts and much of the area inside the arc. They were able to push out USF into the perimeter, where they made only 29.1% of their field goals all night, and even less in the first half. 

In the second half, OSU mainly focused on one-on-one coverage, with heavy focus on San Francisco’s offensive leader and WCC first team player Freja Werth. 

“We want to shut down the rim, we don’t want them to score at the rim,” Ferreira remarked. “I felt like our zone was really, really good, and that worked well.”

Despite being down 33-19 at the half, San Francisco wasn’t going down without a fight. They ramped up both their offense and defense, notably starting to sink long, deep three-pointers. The Dons made six shots from behind the arc in the second half of the match.

With their punishing offense, USF was able to bring the score to be within two baskets, and kept OSU to a 4 minute scoring drought in the third.

“We need to be a great defensive team as our offense develops,” head coach Scott Rueck said. “When we execute, along with the defensive intensity that’s become so consistent, I think we’re a tough out.”

This isn’t the first time that the Beavers have watched a large lead dwindle away. In their last meet with Saint Mary’s College, OSU mustered up a 20-point lead, but fell to the Gaels by three points. Unlike that matchup, though, this wasn’t the end for the Beavs.

“It’s never going to be easy in March,” Rueck said. “This team was stretched in every way, we all were, in the fourth quarter just trying to get momentum back and you gotta give San Francisco just a ton of credit.”

Early in the fourth, Angeliki Ziaka drilled three free throws for the Dons, making it a one-point ball game. It was a battle for the rest of the match, with the teams tying several times. 

A pivotal moment came once Werth logged her fourth foul with a moving screen, and was ejected shortly after for fouling out under the rim. After the Dons marked a shot clock violation, the ball ended up in Rees’ hands- and it was all over.

“I was able to get into it with my body and kind of use that to balance myself,” Rees said. “Sometimes it’s not your game, but it’s your moment, and it happened to be my moment right then.”

In an unusual outcome for the Beaver’s offensive leader, Rees’ only non-free throw basket was the buzzer beater, logging only four points for the night but still being named the player of the game. Other than Ferreira, who ended the game with 19 points, Sela Heide got nine points and four blocks off of the bench, while AJ Marotte and Ally Schimel finished with eight points apiece.  

For the Dons, Werth was the team leader with 18 points and eight rebounds. Ziaka and Mia Vuksic were strong off of the bench at 14 and 13 points respectively. The team went 17-18 for free-throws – with Werth being one of the best free throw shooters in the nation, she made all eight of her attempts.

The Beavers will face off against Gonzaga University, the number-one seed, in the semifinals of the WCC tournament on March 10. The teams are split in their matchups this season, with both OSU and Gonzaga winning their away game by four points. OSU is one of only two teams in the conference to have beaten Gonzaga this year.