Beavers Fall to Saint Mary's

Freshman Ali Gibson had a team-high 14 points.

Dec. 19, 2011

Corvallis, Ore. – Freshman Ali Gibson (Woodbridge, Calif.) scored 14 points, and senior Earlysia Marchbanks (Salem, Ore.) added 11, but the Oregon State women’s basketball team (9-2) couldn’t overcome the hot-shooting of the Saint Mary’s Gaels (8-4) suffering an 81-61 setback in the final non-conference game of the season on Monday evening.

The Gaels entered the night shooting 30 percent from three-point range for the season, but made 14-of-22 (63.6 percent) attempts, proving to be the difference.

“[Saint Mary’s] came out and hit two three-pointers right from the start,” assistant coach Mark Campbell said. “They ended up making 14 for the game and defending the three is something our team has done really well this season, something we take pride in. Credit to Saint Mary’s for knocking down the shots and hitting big shots.”

Oregon State fell behind by 20 points at halftime at 41-21, but made a huge rally to get within 11 points four times.

However, the Gaels managed to squelch the rallies each time thanks mainly to the accurate shooting from guard Jackie Nared. Nared entered the game averaging 11.6 points, more than doubling her average with a game-high 26, including shooting 6-of-8 from beyond the arc.

The Beavers dive into the inaugural season of the Pac-12 slate on Thursday, Dec. 29 with a home game against the Washington Huskies at 7:00 p.m. The Washington State Cougars visit New Year’s Eve Day for a 2:00 p.m. contest.

Oregon State Notes:

Sophomore Alyssa Martin notched three blocks, tying her career high.
Oregon State had 15 bench points to Saint Mary’s 10 bench points, 10 fast break points to Saint Mary’s two fast break points and dominated the paint with 34 points to Saint Mary’s 22.
In the second half, the Beavers improved their shooting percentage from 33.3 percent to 50 percent.
Patricia Bright has recorded at least one block in nine games this season, recording two or more in eight of those games.
Ali Gibson has scored in double figures in seven games this season. She scored her season high of 21 at Eastern Washington.

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