Difference makers: Eastern Washington can’t find way to stop OSU’s Raegan Beers

RAEGAN BEERS

Oregon State’s sophomore post rarely left the post on offense and almost always faced a double team while scoring 19 points and making 8 of 11 shots from the floor. Her ability to draw double-teams opened up shots for her teammates, and Eastern’s efforts to rotate grew slower as the game went on. She also had three steals and a block. “Keeping the ball high was super important because they have really scrappy guards that can just come in and take it from you whenever they want,” Beers said. “So that was super important: Catching it high and keeping it high throughout this game. It was … a fight down there.”

TALIA VON OELHOFFEN

OSU’s junior guard from the Tri-Cities didn’t have a great shooting night (2 of 8 from the floor), but she had a game-high six assists and four rebounds while steadying the Beavers in the second quarter. “Talia moved to the 1 for a stretch and showed her leadership,” OSU head coach Scott Rueck said. “And it was a calming presence for us, and then we established ourself.”

KEY MOMENT

Early in the second quarter, redshirt sophomore Aaliyah Alexander hit a jumper in the lane to give Eastern a 20-17 lead. But OSU scored the next 11 points with its inside -out game. Beers hit a basket, and Timea Gardiner made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game for the first time since it was 2-2. Dominika Paurova and Gardiner hit back-to-back 3s, and Paurova capped the run with a steal and score to make it 28-20.

Jamie Loera answered with another midrange basket, but the Beavers continued their run by scoring nine of the next 11 points. The Eagles never cut the lead back to single digits.