HAM-mercy! OSU's Hamblin annihilates Troy

Corvallis, OR -- The Beavers let Troy know right away that this was THEIR court, and there was no way the Trojans were going to take that away from them. The Beavers killed it both offensively and defensively, and outsmarted the Trojans on both ends of the floor.

"Whoever controlled tempo was going to be in control of the game, and I thought we did that today," said Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck "We eliminated quick shots for them which is the rhythm they like to play in, and we made them work for everything."

Troy looked rattled as if they just did not know how to react to such an aggressive team like Oregon State. The ball was trembling out of their hands as Gabriella Hanson pulled some robberies and Ruth Hamblin flat out denied shot attempts. The Beavers shockwave hit Troy hard as they grabbed a huge lead of 23-4 at the end of the first quarter.

Troy continued to appear shaken as their ball movement was getting sloppy, not paying attention to the ball and where the passes were going. They did not look unitized at all, while unity was exactly what Oregon State had. Already in the first half Oregon State had 16 assists total (6 from Wiese), while Troy only had two.

Already with a double-double by the end of the first half, Hamblin took the reigns and led the team as their top two scorers remained relatively quiet. The Beavers grabbing such a huge lead without Weisner and Wiese taking charge goes to show how talented this entire Oregon State team is. By the end of the first half, the Beavers were shooting at a solid 48.5% as they held Troy to a low 16.7%.

Kristen Emerson led Troy as she sunk the ball from downtown, being at the top of the team for the most baskets and rebounds, but her efforts alone weren't even close to what the whole team needed to match OSU.

As Hamblin continued to dominate, Weisner began to look out of character, making 0 of her 6 shot attempts. It was up to Ruth to fill that role, and she did so exceedingly. Hamblin continuously took the ball to the rim and grabbed the rebounds, being the dominant force on the court with an outstanding 18 points and 18 rebounds in the night.

The Beavers kept momentum while Kolbie Orum made her presence known, grabbing back-to-back layups to kick off the fourth. There was a slight hiccup as the team went scoreless for three minutes, but Sydney picked it right back up with a steal and a drive to the basket.

Weisner finally made her first basket with five minutes left in the game, as the Beavers went on a quick 8-0 run to widen the gap to 41 points. The Beavers maintained their dominance ‘til the end scoring 19 points in the final quarter, proving that it's tough to beat the Beavs on their home court as they defeated Troy with a blowout, 73-31.

Gulich closed the night with 12 points, 6 rebounds as Wiese grabbed a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds.

Emerson and Beverly Kelley were the leading scorers for Troy, both with 9 points, 8 rebounds.

"I thought this was a strong performance all around by our team," said Rueck. "This was a great start to the tournament today, and I'm really proud of our team for the way they prepared, and also very proud of Beaver Nation for providing such an incredible atmosphere here for women's basketball and especially our team."