Reese, No. 8 Arizona women hold off Oregon State 73-61
Feb 5, 2022, 11:08 PM | Updated: Feb 6, 2022, 2:16 pm
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — By taking care of the ball, Cate Reese and No. 8 Arizona took care of Oregon State.
The Wildcats forced 16 turnovers, turning those mistakes into 19 points, while giving it away only a program record low-tying three times in a 73-61 win Sunday.
“That’s what they do,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. “I think this group of guards is one of the very best groups and most experienced groups in the country. They just do a great job forcing you to make mistakes, keeping you on your heels and making you work for everything.”
Reese played all 40 minutes and scored 19 points in Arizona’s 15th consecutive home win.
Koi Love came off the bench to score a season-high 16 in 29 minutes. The Wildcats (17-3, 7-3 Pac-12) were thin in the frontcourt — Ariyah Copeland missed the game due to a headache and starting post Lauren Ware picked up two fouls in the first four minutes.
Oregon State (11-7, 4-4) shot 55.6 percent in the first half, making five of eight 3-pointers, but turned it over 11 times, resulting in Arizona taking 18 more shots than the Beavers.
“That was a huge discrepancy at the half, that was unique,” Rueck said.
Love, a Vanderbilt transfer who came in averaging 4.4 points per game, was 7 of 10 from the field. She also had two of Arizona’s 11 offensive rebounds that produced 13 second-chance points.
“This whole weekend she kind of came out of her shell a little bit,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said of Love, who had eight points and nine rebounds in Friday’s win over No. 19 Oregon. “She really brought us great energy, offensively and defensively.”
Arizona led 36-34 at halftime and increased the margin to nine points midway through the third quarter by getting to the foul line. Point guard Shaina Pellington drew three shooting fouls in a 58-second span, making five of six free throws to put the Wildcats up 45-36.
Oregon State finished the third quarter on a 6-0 run to trail 49-47 but couldn’t get a stop in the final period. Arizona hit three 3-pointers in the first five minutes after making only three in the first three quarters, with Sam Thomas’ triple starting a 7-0 run to give the Wildcats a 66-55 advantage with 4:20 left.
Talia Van Oelhoffen led Oregon State with 17 points, but she was just 5 of 14 from the field and missed five of six 3-pointers after making 11 of 22 in her previous three games.
BIG PICTURE
Oregon State: Recently locked in Rueck, signing the most successful coach in program history to a contract through the 2030-31 season. The 52-year-old Rueck, in his 12th season at OSU, is 251-121 with seven NCAA Tournament appearances.
Arizona: A couple of big crowds at McKale have moved the Wildcats closer to the top of the Pac-12 in attendance. The 7,505 on hand Sunday increased Arizona’s season average to 7,462, just behind Oregon’s conference-leading 7,609.
UP NEXT
Oregon State: The Beavers head home to host rival Oregon on Friday, before visiting the Ducks two days later.
Arizona: The Wildcats head up Interstate 10 on Friday to take on in-state rival Arizona State before hosting the Sun Devils two days later in Tucson.
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