Gibson leads Oregon State women past Oregon 67-60
Corvallis, Ore. (AP) – In her first taste of Civil War action, freshman Ali Gibson (Woodbridge, Calif.) scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Oregon State women’s basketball team to a 67-60 win over rival Oregon on Saturday in Gill Coliseum in front of a crowd of 3,719.
Gibson finished the day shooting 53.3 percent (8-15) with three assists and three steals. Junior Patricia Bright (Phoenix, Ariz.) earned her second career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, while junior Sage Indendi (Livingston, Mont.) scored a season-high 14 points.
Oregon State (13-7, 4-5 Pac-12) scored nine straight points on a trio of three-pointers in the final four minutes to take control in what had been a back-and-forth game throughout with 11 tie scores and 15 lead changes. Gibson’s fifth three-pointer, tying her most in a single game, marked the go-ahead basket in the game.
“This was just a battle of a game,” head coach Scott Rueck said. “It was more of a defensive battle than probably anybody could have predicted. I was so proud of so proud of our defensive transition. We followed the game plan and had very few mistakes.
This game turned into a three-point shooting contest. At one point I thought, I don’t know if we can win one of those against Oregon but we did. It was also just an incredible atmosphere. This was the most people that we’ve played in front of at home, and I’m so proud of our fans for coming out and supporting us the way they did. I give credit to Oregon for playing the game that they did. And I’m so proud of our team for gutting it out to then end when we certainly could have folded.”
Oregon State held Oregon (11-10, 3-6 Pac-12) to just three points in the last 3:48, shooting 24-of-54 (44.4 percent) from the floor while Oregon was 23-of-65 (35.4 percent) overall in the game.
Oregon State scored five straight points early in the second half to equal its biggest lead of the game to that point at 36-31. Oregon answered with an 11-2 run, going up 42-38 on Nia Jackson’s layin with 11:08 remaining.
The Ducks later scored nine straight, the last six by Jackson, to go ahead 53-45 in just 1:14, but the Beavers came back with eight in a row, tying it on sophomore Alyssa Martin’s (Portland, Ore.) lob to Gibson at the basket.
Jackson scored on consecutive possessions to put Oregon back ahead four.
Oregon State came back with its three three-pointers, by Indendi, Martin and Gibson, to go ahead 62-57.
“After we made the first three-pointer, we kept taking them, and they were falling,” Gibson said. “We also got a lot of good offensive rebounds down the stretch. We knew that if we got a defensive stop, we could bring offensive pressure to them and win. We have been down in many games, but we never stop fighting, let go or give up. We knew that if we pulled through and made some big plays, we could finish well.”
Oregon ended its late scoring drought went Jordan Loera’s three-pointer with 27 seconds left cut the Ducks’ deficit to 64-60.
Oregon State closed out the game at the free throw line, connecting on 5-of-8 attempts with Martin and senior Earlysia Marchbanks (Salem, Ore.) making perfect appearances at the line.
Oregon’s Amanda Johnson, who missed the last 11 games after fracturing her left thumb, had 16 points and eight rebounds for Oregon, while Nia Jackson scored 12 points – all in the second half.
Oregon State continues its homestand, hosting Colorado in the inaugural Pac-12 matchup on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in Gill Coliseum.
Oregon State Notes:
• The attendance of 3,719 is the most for a single game in Gill Coliseum since the 2006-07 season.
• Junior Patricia Bright earned her second career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
• Freshman Ali Gibson scored a career-high 23 points, tying her career-best eight field goals made and five three-pointers made.
• Sophomore Alyssa Martin tied her career-high for assists with five.
• Junior Sage Indendi had a season-high 14 points. She also had a season-high of six field goals made and needs one more three-pointer to move into fourth place for career three-pointers.
• Oregon State is now 11-2 when opponents score 60 points or less.
• The last time Oregon State beat Oregon two times in a row was during the 2008-09 season.
• The last time the Beavers defeated the Ducks at home in consecutive seasons was 2002-03 and 2003-04.
• Oregon State hasn’t won a pair of consecutive conference games since 2008-09.
Release from Oregon Media Services
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The first round of the Civil War was won by the Oregon State defense, as the Beavers dominated the final four minutes of play in a 67-60 victory on Saturday evening at Gill Coliseum.
Oregon (11-10, 3-6) led by as many as eight in the second half, and held a slim 57-53 advantage after an Amanda Johnson bucket with 3:51 to play. But Johnson’s basket would be the Ducks’ last score until a Jordan Loera three-pointer with 28 seconds left as Oregon trailed 64-60.
During Oregon State’s 11-0 run, the Beavers (13-7, 4-5) knocked down three three-pointers, as Ali Gibson scored the final dagger with 1:46 left on the clock to put Oregon State ahead 62-57 with 1:46 left on the clock.
The Ducks were led by Johnson’s 16 points and eight rebounds, as the senior returned to the floor for the first time since breaking her left thumb at Denver on Dec. 11, and missing 11 consecutive games.
Gibson scored a career and game-high 23 points, shooting 5-of-12 from three-point range as Oregon State became the 10th Oregon opponent this season to knock down at least 10 three-pointers in a game. Patricia Bright recorded a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds along with a game-high four blocks, while Sage Indendi poured in 14 points and dished a game-high six assists.
Alyssa Martin was the fourth OSU player in double figures with 11 points, including the three-pointer that gave Oregon State its final lead, 59-57, with 2:47 to play.
The first round of the Civil War offered 15 lead changes and 11 tie scores. The Ducks shot 35.4 percent from the floor, recovering in the second half to shoot 43.8 percent after knocking down just nine field goals in the first half on 33 attempts.
Oregon senior guard Nia Jackson added 12 points for Oregon as the only other Duck in double figures, while tallying a game-high four steals.
After two Jackson free throws, Oregon led 53-45 with 7:36 to play, but three-pointers from Martin and Gibson put the Beavers back in the game quickly. OSU tied the game, 53-53, on a Gibson lay-up with 4:28, but Johnson responded with two buckets in the post for Oregon.
The teams combined to turn the ball over 35 times, but Oregon State capitalized to score 22 points off Oregon’s 17 miscues, while Oregon scored just 10 points off the Beavers’ 18 errors.
Oregon State entered the locker room with a slim 26-25 advantage as both teams struggled to take care of the ball combining for 23 turnovers.
The Ducks shot just 27.3 percent (9-33) from the floor in the first half, with five of their nine made buckets from long distance.
Oregon State shot 40.0 percent (10-of-25) from the floor, and each team grabbed 20 rebounds apiece.
Oregon trailed by as many as five in the first half, 20-15, with 7:47 left to play, but the Ducks responded with an 8-0 run and held the Beavers scoreless until Gibson drained a three-pointer with 3:00 left in the first half.
The Ducks return to Matthew Knight Arena at 7 p.m., Thursday to host new Pac-12 member Utah.
Notes: Amanda Johnson entered the game at the 15:31 mark of the first half, making her first appearance since breaking her thumb at Denver on Dec. 11…Johnson led Oregon in scoring for the 34th time in her career and recorded the 66th double-figure scoring game of her career…for the 10th time this season an Oregon opponent has knocked down 10 three-pointers…the Ducks blew an eight-point lead for the second time this year with the other on Jan. 19 at USC…Jordan Loera’s 39 three-pointers tie Taylor Lilley for the most three-pointers in a single-season by a freshman…the Beavers have now defeated Oregon for two consecutive games – the first time that has happened since the 2009 season when OSU swept the series.
