Oregon State women breeze past Pacific for fifth straight win

CORVALLIS — Oregon State women’s basketball is on a roll to begin West Coast Conference play, the winners of five consecutive games after a 81-61 thrashing of University of the Pacific on Friday night at Gill Coliseum.

The Beavers (11-5, 3-0 WCC) were led by Jenna Villa with a career-high 32 points on 11-18 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. She was supplemented by Néné Sow with nine points, Ally Schimel with eight, Tiara Bolden with seven, and Kennedie Shuler with six points and six assists.

The Tigers (7-7, 2-1) shot just 37% in the loss, while the Beavers shot 56%.

“I just think we’re getting better, and it’s fun to watch the progression of this team,” OSU coach Scott Rueck said. “Pacific’s a really nice team. This was, I think, their third road game of the year, and they’ve played really tough on the road in their previous two at San Diego State and Cal. And I knew they wouldn’t be fazed by anything. We would have to make them go away. We’d have to earn everything in this game, and I think our defensive intensity, and effort has just been getting better and better week by week.”

OSU’s significant size and athleticism advantage was evident from the opening tip, though the Beavers didn’t have to pound the ball inside to Lizzy Williamson and Néné Sow in order to score.

Villa, Bolden and company hit 6 of 10 three-point attempts in the first half to carry the OSU offense. And when she wasn’t dishing to her teammates for easy baskets, Shuler drove to the basket with ease and finished her signature scoop shot.

OSU led 23-14 after one quarter, and 46-24 by halftime. Pacific struggled from the field, shooting 32% to OSU’s 61% in the opening 20 minutes. The Beavers had 11 assists on 19 first half baskets.

“It’s fun to watch this team get better in front of our eyes,” Rueck said. “And clearly we had a big time performance by Jenna in this game. Just knocking down shots, creating offense. But as you look throughout the roster, it wasn’t just her tonight. It was, you know, she had the biggest number, but it was a lot of just great plays, and a lot of very unselfish basketball.”

Pacific came out with a 5-0 spurt to begin the second half, but it was quickly made up for on a turnaround hook by Williamson and three-pointer by Ally Schimel.

The Beavers were sloppy with the ball as the third quarter progressed, though Pacific could not cash in on the turnovers. Villa’s three-pointer made it 56-34 OSU late in the third.

After Villa was fouled and hit three straight free throws, OSU led 63-39 through three quarters. She tied her career-high with a three-pointer to begin the fourth, and eclipsed it with a driving layup plus the foul midway through the final quarter.

Villa exited to significant applause from the OSU faithful, but she eventually had to return as the game got closer, adding one more bucket to her total to finish things off.

After taking a hit to the face early in the game, the at times fiery Villa said she hoped she got a black eye from the exchange. A badge of honor, as it were, after a stellar scoring performance.

“It definitely feels good, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my teammates,” Villa said. “I think, as a team, we moved the ball really well tonight, and just were able to get what we wanted offensively. And that’s how that happens.”

Next game: Oregon State (11-5, 3-0 WCC) at Washington State (2-14, 1-2 WCC)

• When: Thursday, Jan. 8
• Time: 6:00 pm PT
• Where: Pullman, WA
• Stream: ESPN+

Read the original article on oregonlive.com.