Women’s basketball sweeps Arizona schools

Mikayla Pivec puts up double-digits on the scoreboard against Arizona State University. 

Beavers endure two straight losses on the road followed by two wins at home.

After losing two away games to UCLA and USC, the Beavers were back at home this weekend to take on Arizona State and Arizona.

The Beavers sat at No. 7 in the Pac-12, after USC rallied back from a 15 point deficit to take the win, 65-61. The losses in Los Angeles knocked Oregon State University down six spots in the national rankings, putting them at No. 22 overall.

Despite the losses, OSU (2-2) returned to Gill Coliseum Jan. 12 to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-0). Senior Marie Gulich secured the lead late in the fourth with a go ahead lay up giving OSU the win 57-54.

Gulich lead the team in points (20) and tied with Mikayla Pivec and Katie McWilliams in rebounds as well (6). Pivec also put up double-digits on the scoreboard, securing 12 points all inside the two-point land.

The stats sheet was very lopsided in this bout. ASU dominated the steals category, beating OSU 7-0. The Beavers were resilient however, out-rebounding the Sun Devils 36-28 as well as holding a 54.2 shooting percentage.

Sophomore point guard Mikayla Pivec set her pride on the defense against ASU.

“We gave up eight points in the fourth quarter,” Pivec said. “Before the game, we said ‘hey if we hold them to 57 or less, that’s our goal’ and we held them to 54, that was the difference tonight.”

Marie Gulich also spoke on the teams performance after the game.

“Im super proud of the team,” Gulich said. “Just the way we played, we stuck together. We talked about being more together on the court as a team, and I’m just proud about that.”

The Beavers (3-2) were back in Gill Coliseum the Sunday to take on the Arizona Wildcats (0-5).

What was first a tie at the end of the first quarter turned into an all out beating on the Wildcats. An astounding 16 three-point field goals and 49 rebounds gave OSU the win 88-48.

A team effort all around helped push the Beavers past the Cats’ with four players exceeding double-digit points including Kat Tudor (18), Taya Corosdale (13), Marie Gulich (13) and Mikayla Pivec (10). Pivec was one rebound and two assists shy of a triple double as well.

OSU’s 16 three-pointers certainly was a highlight, especially after only making one shot from the arc against ASU on Friday.

Head coach Scott Rueck is proud of the teams improvement despite their age.

“I think you’re seeing this team just get better and better, the sky’s the limit for this group,” Rueck said. “We know it, we see all of the potential, and its just them figuring it out. It’s this progression that we have to be on.”

OSU will be taking on Oregon Friday in Gill Coliseum at 8 p.m. and Sunday in Eugene at 5 p.m. Both games will be viewable on Pac-12 Networks.

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