The Oregon State Women’s Basketball team took a much bigger step in competition as they got a scrappy win over the Air Force Falcons on Monday afternoon in their home of Gill Coliseum.
The Beavers secured their first Division I victory of the season, as they took down the Falcons 60-49. They previously had victories over NAIA Corban University, and an exhibition win over Division II University of Alaska Fairbanks.
OSU was not on the same page the whole game, but was able to overcome all odds to keep the lead the entire game till the end.
“This is truly game one for us, just survive game one, bottom line,” Head Coach Scott Rueck said.
The Beavers took the early lead in the first quarter with senior Tiara Bolden scoring 10 points in the first quarter, making three consecutive shots during the stretch.
Air force did however show early that they were going to be tougher competition then the Beavers first walk in the park. Challenging Bolden early was Air Force senior Emily Adams, who the Beavers left open for two easy mid-range jumpers.
Oregon State did have much more success offensively in the first quarter. They acquired a 17-8 lead as the time ran out in the first period. Air Force wasn’t even able to get off a final shot with senior Lizzy Williams blocking the layup from behind.
Air Force did show some real grit with active hands and offensive rebounding, as the Falcons racked up eight steals in the first half to the Beavers three, while having one more offensive rebound than OSU.
“They disrupted us in so many ways, they exposed us in ways,” Rueck said.
However, this could not outweigh the offensive mismatch. Oregon State would slowly but surely expand its lead to 32-20 as the first half concluded.
The Beavers starting lineup had four out of five players shooting 50% or better from the field, with the familiar junior Kennedie Shuler leading the team in assists with four.
Oregon State as a team shot 54% from the field while Air Force only flew in at a lowly 17%. OSU also doubled the amount of total rebounds the Falcons managed to grab in the first half.
However, Air Force came into the second half with a fire lit under them, racking up three more steals and bringing the Beaver lead down to three.
It was a steal by junior Jayda McNabb to intercept an inbound pass, leading to a midrange shot by senior Milahnie Perry, forcing Rueck to take a timeout for the Beavers.
The 29 seasons of head coaching experience must have clearly worked, as it only took another minute and a half for the Beavers to go on a 7-0 run to put the lead back to 10.
Oregon State continued to keep the Falcons at bay, going into the final period with a 43-36 lead. The Beavers had tripled the amount of turnovers that Air Force committed, but they still boasted a better shooting percentage to help keep their lead.
“Give them credit for pressuring us. The flip side of that, they tried turning it over but they let us shoot 51 percent from the field,” Rueck said.
Within the first minute of the final quarter, Rueck received a technical foul from the bench. This helped Air Force bring down the Beaver lead, as it fell to only five.
The tide was then turned away from the streamline Air Force run, with starting senior center Nene Sow finally beginning to enforce her will with two consecutive strong finishes from the paint.
The score was 51-44 in the Beavers favor with just under five minutes remaining.
Sow also made a big difference in defense within the final minutes as Air Force wanted no business driving inside with the threat of her 6 foot 8 frame looming. Air Force continued to struggle with outside shooting, hitting only 19% of their 3-point shots.
“It’s getting so much easier to be able to defend,” Sow said.
With only a minute remaining, OSU established a nine-point lead. This was thanks to the continued efforts of Bolden, who didn’t continue her dominant scoring presence from the first quarter, but still contributed regularly to lead all scorers with 23.
“It’s very intense, and especially in games like that I kinda have to take a deep breath and remember I’m here for a reason,” Bolden said.
Oregon State would run away with the lead after Air Force committed far too many fouls to remain competitive, ending the game with double of what the Beavers committed, 18-9. This left the final score being 60-49.
With two wins now under their belt, the Beavers look to stay unbeaten with their next game being against Illinois on Friday, Nov. 14 in Gill Coliseum.
