After the Oregon State University women’s basketball team beat Portland on Sunday, OSU Head Coach Scott Rueck mused about how difficult it is to beat a team three times.
On Monday, he was vindicated. After losing in both meets in the regular season, No. 4 OSU beat No. 1 Loyola Marymount University 73-67 in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament in Las Vegas.
“They beat us twice in the regular season, two just tough losses,” Rueck said after the game. “Hard to play against, it’s an awesome challenge for us and obviously a very tough matchup. … To beat them says a lot, it takes everything you’ve got.”
The Sunday game for the Beavs saw the team finishing almost entirely at the rim, with much thanks to center Lizzy Williamson. In this match, however, OSU made many connections with the longer attempts. Guard Ally Schimel was the crux of the entire operation.
Schimel had her career high in both points and 3-pointers made with 21 and five, respectively. She played for the entire 40 minutes and was able to stretch the LMU defense by getting into territory beyond the arc.
“My teammates never lost confidence in me. They trust me as a shooter, as a full player,” Schimel said. “Super grateful, this entire experience and my journey, it’s been super exciting and super fun. (OSU is) such a great place for it all to happen to me.”
Despite the performance from Schimel, she was not OSU’s top scorer. That honor went to Jenna Villa, who collected 22 points over the game. Villa sank all 10 of her free-throw attempts and was able to produce both within the paint and from deep. She was the only Beaver to score a 3-pointer other than Schimel.
“They disrupted us at the rim, whether it was a drive or a post catch, and that opened up the perimeter, though,” Rueck said. “I thought our team saw the floor exceptionally well today. The ball movement, it was Oregon State basketball.”
In a similar fashion to the game against Portland, OSU was faced with a tough defense that had tight coverage for the entire game. LMU was able to push the pace of the game on both sides of the court and continually press the Beavs.
“We just talk about handling their pressure with poise and not trying to rush anything, and playing at our pace and not letting them dictate how fast that we go,” Villa said. “And then just pushing the ball when we have an advantage. … Finding ways when we can push the pace to do that, and then also just slowing it down when they’re pressing us and being able to take care of the ball.”
For the second time in the two games of Oregon State’s tournament run thus far, turnovers plagued the team and allowed the Lions to notch 17 points off turnovers. LMU hounded the Beavers for the entire game, especially guard Jess Lawson, who stole the ball away four times. LMU got nine steals to OSU’s three and five blocks to OSU’s two.
Oregon State is the second-least fouling team in the nation, which once again led to a disparity in free-throw attempts that immensely helped the Beavs. OSU made 22 free throws in the game and held LMU to only five. As grueling as the Lions’ defense was, OSU was able to draw fouls and get sent to the line, which made a massive difference.
Lawson was LMU’s main weapon, and she ended the night with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Three other Lions scored in the double digits, including Allison Clarke, who came off the bench to make many off-ball plays to go with her 10 points.
Despite the loss, LMU Head Coach Aarika Hughes said that their season isn’t over, and that they expect to play in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament by virtue of being the WCC regular season champions.
Oregon State will face Gonzaga in the WCC tournament finals on Tuesday. OSU and Gonzaga split their two games in the regular season, with both teams winning at home. The WCC championship game will be the last for either team competing, as both will be playing in the Pac-12 conference come next season. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
