Home College BasketBall Oregon State Takes Down USC At The Galen Center

Oregon State Takes Down USC At The Galen Center

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Photo Credit: Vince Pirozzi

Los Angeles, Calif. –Oregon State set the tone early on offense, had three players in double figures, and played well on the wings defensively in a 77-52 win over USC at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

Freshman Talia von Oelhoffen led the Beavers with a career-high 19 points off the bench hitting 7 of 9 from the floor, while Goodman chipped in 17 on 6-for-9 shooting. Ellie Mack, who coach Scott Rueck said probably played her best game with Oregon State, scored 13 points and shot 4 for 8 overall.

“I’m just really proud of the team and how we stepped up today,” OSU senior Aleah Goodman said in a postgame interview. “I mean, we went through some battles this year so to come out and kind of put a full 40 minutes together, we had a little rough stretch in the first quarter but overall I’m just extremely proud of this team just how we came out to play and then just how we played the entire game.”

As a team, Oregon State (7-6, 5-6) finished 26 for 48 from the floor (54.2%), including 9 for 14 from downtown.

The Beavers were in control throughout the game, jumping out to a 13-4 lead but the Trojans roared back to get within 18-16 thanks to a 7-0 run then, Goodman drained a half court shot beating the quarter buzzer to put Oregon State back up 21-16.

In the second, Oregon State slowed the game down and ran their half court offensive sets to perfection.

“They had a little bit of momentum to end the first quarter so that definitely helped us and give us a little boost of confidence and just to have fun with it.” Talia von Oelhoffen said after the game.

The Beavers stifled defense limit led USC to shoot a dismal 2-for-17 from the field in the second quarter as Oregon State built a 37-23 lead at the break.

Oregon State finished the half shooting 52% (13 for 25) while the Trojans were only 9 for 31 (29%). Sanders and Pili had five each for the Trojans.

Photo Credit: Vince Pirozzi

Oregon State took a 40-23 lead early in the third on a 3-point play from Mack. USC’s Pili wouldn’t be outdone hitting two 3-pointers to trim the lead 45-36 with 3:57 left in the game.

But the Beavers closed the third quarter on an 8-0 run and scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to run away with the win.

“That’s definitely something we’ve been focusing on,” von Oelhoffen said of slowing down the opposition’s spurts. “I think a lot of teams have been able to go on runs, to long of runs, and we haven’t had an answer for it. But for us I think it’s just energy and effort, and being consistent on every play. I think sometimes when teams go and run we kind of lose energy but we did a good job of shutting that down and punching them back when they hit us hard.”

The Trojans were 13 for 49 from the field in the last three quarters.

Alissa Pili led USC (10-9, 8-8) with 13 points on 4-for-14 shooting. Desiree Sanders and Endyia Rogers both scored eight points a piece.

Oregon State dominated the boards, grabbing 44 to USC’s 25. The Beavers gave up just five offensive rebounds, an area they had a problem early in the season. Taylor Jones, who had nine points, led the Beavers in rebounding with 13.

“I think if we can play to our potential for 40 full minutes were a really good team,” von Oelhoffen said. “We’re a team that can make a run in the NCAA tournament. We just can’t have those let downs that we have sometimes and let it build up. But we were hanging with Stanford because we we’re playing to our potential, so we just have to keep that consistent for 40 minutes and we can hang with any team, we can beat any team.”

If Beavers want to make a case for an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament, Oregon State has a few opportunities left to show why they deserve a spot in the big dance.