In an end to a storybook season, the Oregon State University women’s basketball team lost to the University of North Carolina 70-49 in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Chapel Hill, North Carolina this Saturday afternoon. 

“While I’m sad it’s over, I couldn’t be happier for what we’ve accomplished, more proud, and it’s just been an absolute joy,” OSU head coach Scott Rueck said after the game.

The third-seeded and No. 12 ranked overall Tar Heels were in control for most of the game. 

However, the second quarter was the strongest for the Beavers, where they went on a 13-2 run. OSU managed to take the lead with a three-pointer from AJ Marotte, but couldn’t hang onto it and ended the half down by two points. Marotte scored 11 points in the first half, her season high for first-half points.

After halftime, the game seemed entirely different. UNC began their full-court press, clamping down on OSU defensively. Thanks to their defense, UNC made six points from steals in the third quarter. The Tar Heels’ offense also sprang into action – Lexi Donarski sank five threes in the third quarter, only missing one from beyond the arc. 

North Carolina consolidated and outscored the Beavers 30-9 in the third.

Despite their efforts, OSU couldn’t come back in the final quarter. They managed to outscore UNC in the fourth quarter and go on a 7-0 run early on, but it wasn’t enough after the Tar Heels’ crushing plays after halftime.

“It’s hard, because it’s March,” forward Kelsey Rees said. “Obviously it’s whoever plays best on the day, and credit to them. They played amazingly, especially in that third quarter, so definitely proud of our accomplishments but definitely hurts initially.”

The Beavers struggled with controlling the ball, and had a 10-17 assist-to-turnover ratio. The ball was stolen from them 10 times.

Rees led the Beavers with 15 points and 10 rebounds, her fifth double-double of the season. Guards Marotte and Kennedie Shuler both played nearly the entire game, scoring 13 and eight points respectively. OSU scored four more rebounds on both sides of the glass to end the match up 40-32.

“We won on the boards by eight,” forward Sela Heide said. “So I think just coming out and having that intensity was a really big thing for us and kind of what helped fuel our fire a little bit in that first half.”

Largely thanks to her triples, Donarski scored 19 points for UNC. Maria Gakdeng, the team’s most accurate shooter, ended the game with 13 points of her own.

“It took a big player playing a big game and rising to that occasion to put on such a show in front of a sold out crowd on a home floor in March Madness,” Heide said. “So a lot of props to Lexi (Donarski) for playing really well, and they played a great game altogether too.”

Oregon State had a noticeable size advantage in some of the matchups on court. UNC guard Alyssa Ustby played the center position for some of the first half, where she went against OSU bigs Rees and Heide who had four and six inch height advantages on her, respectively. The extra inches didn’t end up having a major impact in those matchups, and Ustby marked 10 points and nine rebounds by the end of the match.

“I just stuck to what I knew my strengths were, which is just rooting out my post player as long as I could and just keeping her from moving,” said Ustby. “Both of them (Rees and Heide) got pretty fatigued and just didn’t even want to try posting up any more, and that plays to my strengths.” 

This ends the 2024-2025 chapter for Oregon State. 

“For this team, for it to end here today, nobody would have predicted it,” Rueck said. “I’m just filled with gratitude for being a part of it, gratitude to each of (the players)… this has been one of the most special things I’ve been a part of. Of course we all wanted it to continue, but if it’s gonna end, not a bad way to have it end.”