Oregon State ambushes Ducks in 1st battle of Civil War

Corvallis, OR -- Even without Sydney Wiese, the Beavers got game.

It was a slow, yet, fierce start to the game, as both teams worked hard defensively, leaving the board looking empty for the first three minutes. Ruth Hamblin got things going for the Beavers, while Jacinta Vandenberg and Maite Cazorla put points on the board for the Ducks.

"Really proud of the effort tonight. I thought as we continue to adapt life without Syd, it takes a while you know to find your identity offensively especially, and so we're riding our defense. And tonight the defensive effort was phenomenal," head coach Scott Rueck said. "I thought we were very accurate, very few mistakes; challenged shots for the most parts; did a good job on the boards. And so I just love this effort."

Four minutes into the game, the Ducks got their first and only lead of the night at, 5-3. The Beavers did not let that last long, as Jamie Weisner hit an explosive three to get the crowd going. Alongside her three, OSU did well protecting the basket, collecting 16 rebounds in the first quarter alone.

With their active defense, Oregon State held Oregon to 18% shooting. Even though Oregon had many chances to catch up to Oregon State with steals and free throw opportunities, they failed to turn these advantages into points. The first quarter ended with the Beavers ahead, 16-7.

Sydney Weise's replacement Katie McWilliams, kicked off quarter two with an explosive three-pointer. Compared to their play throughout the season, the Ducks were already looking defeated as their top scorers failed to get points on the board.

Jillian Alleyne, Lexi Bando, and Lexi Peterson all were under a dry spell, as none of these usual leading scorers collected any points. The Beavers were handing out a lot of fouls; however, the Ducks were unable to make the majority of their free throws at 1 for 5.

The dry spell remained for the rest of the team, as Oregon went scoreless for six minutes until a jumper by Gildon rebooted the team. And with this reboot, came a layup by Alleyne to get her first points of the night with 4:19 remaining.

Ruth Hamblin held things down for the Beavers with a couple of layups, but Alleyne was able to find a bit of a rhythm with a couple of layups of her own, putting her at six points. After the teams went back and forth scoring, the Beavers still outscored the Ducks in the second quarter, 16-11, keeping them ahead at the end of the first half, 32-18.

Alleyne kicked off the third quarter putting in a layup for the Ducks, but it ended there for the team as Katie McWilliams responded with a bullet. The Beavers made two consecutive buckets, and a quick timeout was called as Oregon star, Jillian Alleyne was on her hands and knees on the other side of the court, trembling in pain.

Graves and staff came to her side, and Alleyne was able to hop off of the court with assistance, grabbing her left knee as soon as she hit the bench.

With Oregon's powerhouse out of the game, the challenge was on for the Ducks to catch up to the driving force of Oregon State. Ruth continued to kill it with layups, and with help from Siegner and Hanson, the Beavers went on an 8-0 run. The third quarter came to an end, 46-24.

In the first couple minutes of the fourth quarter, the Beavers were scoreless as Vandenberg made back-to-back shots for the Ducks. And before anyone expected it alas, Jillian Alleyne came back into the game.

Within the first four minutes, the Ducks gave four fouls, with a foul on Gildon taking Weisner to the line to collect the first two for the Beavers in the quarter. It turned around for the team as Alleyne drew a foul to collect a pair of free throws for the Ducks, and the fouls kept coming from there on both ends.

The Beavers managed their only four from the line until Hunter came in with a jumper to broaden the gap to 20 points. The Ducks kept missing their shots, as the Beavers continued to sink them in. With an Oregon turnover, Ruth Hamblin gained a jumper, which put the Beavers on another run of 6-0.

With only seconds remaining, the Beavers held the ball as the game came to its end as the Beavers defeated the Oregon Ducks in Game 1 of the Civil War series, 60-33.

Ruth Hamblin was the leading scorer for Oregon State with 15 points and 9 rebounds, followed by Hanson with 11 points, two rebounds and Weisner with 10 points, 9 rebounds.

Jillian Alleyne closed the night with 10 points and six rebounds, and with this being her first game of the season without a double-double, her 29-game double-double streak came to an end. The Beavers held Alleyne to 31.7 percent shooting, as they typically average holding Alleyne at 31.4 percent in Civil War play compared to her average 63.2 percent. Jacinta Vandenberg closed the night with nine points, seven rebounds.

"A lot of respect for Oregon," said Rueck. "You know Jillian is an incredible player, and we know this team so well over the years, so many veterans on this team that it took a big effort to slow them down, to keep them out of transition and I was really proud of that effort tonight."

Though the Beavers came out with a huge win, it's far from over.

"I think right now, especially with a split weekend like this, this is kind of halftime," said Hamblin. "The game's not really over. Obviously we executed out game plan well tonight, but we've got 40 more minutes, and we're going to know each other's tricks heading into this next one, so it's going to be 40 very intense minutes where we have to be focused and bring our 'A' game."

The Ducks and Beavers will face off again on Sunday in Eugene for Game 2 of the Civil War series.