Oregon State ends Eastern women's run
Aaliyah Alexander defends Talia von Oelhoffen in Eastern Washington's NCAA Tournament loss to Oregon State on March 22.
Jamie Loera looks for a way through the defense in Eastern Washington's NCAA Tournament loss to Oregon State, March 22.
CORVALLIS, Ore. - For 10 minutes at least in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament game at Gill Coliseum against Oregon State, the Eastern Washington women kept their opponent in check.
In the following 30 minutes, however, the Pac-12 Beavers' height and wingspan took over helping them advance to round of 32 following a 73-51 victory over Eastern Washington, March 22. OSU would defeat Nebraska 61-51, March 24 and reach the round of 16 against Notre Dame.
Eastern faced an OSU roster that included 10 players over 6-feet in height with 6-4 Raegan Beers leading her team with 19 points. Dominika Paurová (6-1) had 17 and Timea Gardiner(6-3) 12 and were other OSU players in double figures.
"I thought we started the game pretty strong, and then that second quarter, they just started to get it to Beers, and she's just such a great player, and we struggled to stop her a little bit there," Eastern Coach Joddie Gleason said in the postgame press conference.
"And they just kind of cranked it up defensively a little bit as well."
Jamie Loera topped the Eagles with 21 points and Jacinta Buckley added 12.
Eastern built an 18-15 first quarter advantage, leading by as much as 18-10 before Oregon State took command in the closing minutes of the period. The Beavers went on a 13-2 run, part of a 24-9 second quarter and were never challenged.
OSU led 39-27 at halftime.
A Buckley 3-point basket with 1 minute, 33 seconds to go in the third quarter drew her team within 10 points, but that was as close as things would get.
"I think we came down, we got some stops, we got some rebounds, and we just really pushed the ball to get our offense going," Loera said following the game.
Loera added, "Like Coach said, we started off really strong. And Oregon State is a tough team. So just being able to trust who we are and trust our abilities for four quarters, I think that was the challenge for today."
Eastern, which saw its 13-game winning streak come to an end, finishes its historic season with a record of 29-6 overall. Their 29 wins were eight more than the previous program record for a single season.
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