Beavers Drop Tight Battle To No. 16 Duke

Saturday, November 25

Durham, N.C.

12:00 PM

Oregon State

Duke

November 25, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Press Conference

Gulich scores 16 for Oregon State

By: Athletic Communications

DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 18 Oregon State women's basketball team battled to the closing minutes Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but the Beavers could not overcome No. 16 Duke, as the Blue Devils took a 72-65 victory.

"First off, you have to give credit to Duke," said Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck. "They executed defensively, and they made everything difficult for us today. We got some good looks early on that we missed, and that shook our confidence a little bit. I'm really proud of our team for the way they fought. We've got a lot of players experiencing this type of road game for the first time or in a different role. This experience, while painful, is going to help us down the road. We're going to learn a lot from this."

The contest went back-and-forth throughout, with the Beavers coming within a single point midway through the fourth quarter.

Senior Marie Gulich led the Beavers with 16 points, going 6-for-9 from the floor and 4-for-4 shooting from the free-throw line. The center also tallied nine rebounds and four blocks, as she moved into sole possession of eighth on Oregon State's career rejections list.

Sophomore Mikayla Pivec went 5-for-9 on her way to a 13-point, seven-rebound performance. Fellow sophomore Kat Tudor matched Pivec with 13 points. Junior Katie McWilliams set a career high with eight rebounds, to go with eight points and four assists.

The Beavers shot 44.4 percent from the field in the contest, and hit all eight of their free throw attempts. Oregon State also out-rebounded Duke 34-28.

The teams trade punches early on, as Duke took a 13-11 lead into the first media timeout. Duke used a 12-0 run to go in front by eight. The Oregon State defense clamped down at the end of the opening frame, as the Beavers headed to the second down 19-16.

The Blue Devils surged to start the second quarter, going in front by nine halfway through the period, and would head to intermission up 35-26.

Oregon State bounced back in the third quarter, scoring seven unanswered points to get back within five. The Beavers went into the closing frame down by seven.

OSU used an 8-0 fourth quarter run to get back within one, holding Duke scoreless for over four minutes. The Beavers wouldn't get any closer from there, as the Blue Devils took the win by seven.

Oregon State will return to action on Friday, when the Beaver open the Maui Jim Maui Classic, hosted by Oregon State. OSU will take on Nevada and Utah State on back-to-back days at the event.

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