Recap and highlights: Oregon State uses late surge to top fifth-seeded Gonzaga in second round of NCAA Tournament
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Mikayla Pivec notched a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds as fourth-seeded Oregon State used a late run to down No. 5 seed Gonzaga 76-70 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday at Gill Coliseum.
Zykera Rice led the Bulldogs (29-5) with 20 points, while fellow senior Chandler Smith added 13 points, three assists and three blocks for Gonzaga.
The Zags led for most of the second and third quarters, but cold shooting midway through the fourth helped the Beavers (26-7) pull away for good.
Oregon State advances to the Sweet 16 with the win. The Beavers will play top-seeded Louisville on Friday in Albany, New York.
Gonzaga shot 42.4 percent from the floor and 23.1 percent from 3-point range, with all three of their makes coming in the final minute. Oregon State shot 40.7 percent overall and 33.3 percent from deep, but outrebounded the Bulldogs 42-34.
Gonzaga earned the highest seed in program history, along with reaching its highest Associated Press ranking this season.
GU returns starters LeeAnne Wirth and Katie Campbell next season, along with key reserves Jessie Loera, Jill Townsend, Melody Kempton and Jenn Wirth. The Bulldogs lose Rice, Smith and injured point guard Laura Stockton to graduation.
Fourth quarter
Final – Oregon State 76, Gonzaga 70: Beavers make everything down the stretch as Gonzaga never could find the answer.
Zykera Rice wasn’t about to out quietly as the senior hits a pair of 3-pointers to keep Gonzaga’s hopes alive, but the OSU run near the two-minnute mark was too much to overcome.
Tough end to a historic season for Gonzaga, which won an NCAA Tournament game without two of its top players in Laura Stockton and Jill Townsend.
0:49 – Oregon State 67, Gonzaga 61: Chandler Smith gets a tough layup to fall on the next GU possession, but Oregon State’s Taya Corosdale responds with a huge 3-pointer.
Katie Campbell with a good look from deep for the Zags, but it finds iron again and OSU grabs the board.
Oregon State again has the answer late in this one as Madison Washington gets the layup to go and forces another GU timeout with under a minute to go. Zags need baskets, and quickly to keep their NCAA Tournament run alive.
2:16 – Oregon State 62, Gonzaga 59: Big storyline for GU has been the 3-point shooting, or lack of it, tonight. The Zags are 0 for 5 from deep so far, with Katie Campbell missing both of her attempts after making five against Little Rock.
Big bucket from Mikayla Pivec once again for Oregon State. The shifty guard slips past Jessie Loera and gets the left-handed layup to fall while being fouled to put OSU up by three.
2:55 – Gonzaga 59, Oregon State 59: Jessie Loera has had her hands in every passing lane tonight and nearly gets another steal for GU.
Nice possession from OSU though as Madison Washington shows some patience to get Zykera Rice up in the air before finishing strong for the layup.
On the other end of the court, Rice draws yet another foul and converts both shots from the free throw line to keep things tied.
4:55 – Gonzaga 57, Oregon State 57: Zykera Rice starts on the bench for the Zags and OSU is taking advantage with some early looks in the paint with Joanna Grymek.
Nice jumper from Jessie Loera gets the Zags their first points of the fourth as GU returns its starting five to the court – including Chandler Smith, who is sitting on four fouls.
Oregon State doing a great job of moving the ball around, but the Beavers have been caught several times tonight making a couple of extra passes that turn into giveaways. GU capitalizes on OSU’s 11th turnover of the night with a LeeAnne Wirth laup to get her to XX points.
After a short break Zykera Rice is trying to take over late in this one. The senior grabs a long pass from Loera and gets the layup to drop to get to XX points.
GU coach Lisa Fortier keeping her rotations fresh as Rice heads to the bench again for a breather. Meanwhile Chandler Smith and Madison Washington trade buckets to keep this one tied.
Winner of this one heads to the Sweet 16 against top-seeded Louisville on Thursday in Albany, New York.
Third quarter
End 3 – Oregon State 50, Gonzaga 49: Zykera Rice picks up her third foul contesting a Mikayla Pivec layup. Pivec hits both free throws to put the Beavers on top for the first time since the first quarter. She’s up to a game-high 14 points.
OSU ends the period on a 7-2 run to get the Gill Coliseum crowd back into it, but it’s still anyones game with 10 minutes to go.
1:27 – Gonzaga 47, Oregon State 47: Chandler Smith picks up her third and fourth fouls, sending the senior to the bench with a team-best nine points.
Game really opening up on both ends of the floor as the two offenses are finding a groove.
With Smith off the floor, OSU storms back to tie the game and force a GU timeout.
4:44 – Gonzaga 42, Oregon State 39: GU keeping up the defensive pressure to start the second half, but are aided by several missed OSU layups.
Zykera Rice making up for lost time with a pair of back-to-back baskets to get to six points.
Oregon State star Destiny Slocum gets it going as well though after missing most of the first half with a 3-pointer.
Zags doing a great job of getting to the basket and drawing contact, much like they did in the first half. A pair of OSU fouls have led to four Gonzaga points from the free-throw line.
Second quarter
Halftime – Gonzaga 34, Oregon State 32: The Zags have to be happy with the first 20 minutes, especially playing most of it without leading scorer Zykera Rice.
Chandler Smith takes over near halftime for GU, netting a quick four points to get to nine for the half. The senior from Brewster, Washington really stepping up in Rice’s absence.
Beavers also played most of the half without their leading scorer, Destiny Slocum, who also picked up two fast fouls. She averaged 15.8 points per game this season.
LeeAnne Wirth has eight points for the Zags, while Jenn Wirth has added six..
Bulldogs shooting 44.1 percent from the floor but is 0 for 4 from deep, while Oregon State is shooting 33.3 percent overall and 30 percent from 3-point range.
Taya Corosdale leads OSU with nine points.
4:47 – Gonzaga 22, Oregon State 18: Nice series on both sides of the court for Chandler Smith to open the second quarter. The Senior gets a block and then gets a layup to go while being fouled on the other end.
Zags right on top of the Beavers on the defensive end of things, contesting even the most simple of passes. Oregon State up to five turnovers due to the pressure.
With Zykera Rice on the bench, GU keeps going back to the Wirth twins as LeeAnne gets a nice left-handed runner to drop. She’s up to six points, while Jenn has four.
GU also getting a spark inside from Post Falls grad Melody Kempton, who uses her speed to get around Oregon State’s Joanna Grymek for the easy bucket.
Kempton picks up her second foul shortly after the basket though, joining Rice with two personals.
First quarter
End 1 – Gonzaga 15, Oregon State 14: Foul trouble in the first quarter for the Beavers as the Zags get into the bonus for the final four minutes of the period.
GU doing a great job of getting on the floor for every loose ball and keeping Oregon State uncomfortable on its own court.
Second foul of the game called on Zykera Rice on a Mikayla Pivec drive. The senior forward will have to try and avoid grabbing her third before half.
Trio of buckets late in the quarter from LeeAnne Wirth to get her to four points. Six Gonzaga players have scored so far.
Zags shooting 33.3 percent from the floor and are 0 for 3 from 3-point range, while the Beavers are shooting 25 percent overall and 16.7 percent from deep.
4:59 – Gonzaga 8, Oregon State 8: Bulldogs open with Jessie Loera, Katie Campbell, Chandler Smith, Zykera Rice and LeeAnne Wirth on the floor.
Zags go right inside to Rice for an easy two to get things going. Rice quickly picks up her first foul on a nice drive and bucket from Mikayla Pivec for the Beavers.
Oregon State seeking its fourth straight trip to the Sweet 16, while the Zags haven’t made it past the second round since a 2015 victory against the Beavers in Corvallis.
OSU attacking GU down low in the opening minutes as Madison Washington gets the 12-footer to go over Rice.
Zags struggling on the boards so far, as Oregon State knocks down the first 3-pointer of the night after a pair of offensive rebounds.
Big plus for GU though as Oregon State guard Destiny Slocum picks up her second foul and heads to the bench.
Pregame
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