Oregon State Stuns Baylor to Advance to the Elite Eight

In a repeat of the 2015-16 season, Oregon State has won an upset match over Baylor to advance in the NCAA Tournament. This is a surprisingly early exit for Baylor, who many felt deserved to be a 1 seed this year after losing only 1 regular season game (to UCLA).

The 6 seed Beavers jumped to an early lead over the 2 seed Lady Bears, ending the first quarter up 20-15. Kalani Brown led Baylor to a comeback in the second quarter, allowing Baylor to head into halftime with up by 2 points with a score of 31-29.

The teams went back and forth throughout the third period, but Oregon State finished the quarter up 49-47 and the Lady Bears stayed in the lead for the remainder of the game, ending up with a 72-67 victory and a ticket to the Elite Eight.

The teams were even in rebounds, with 38 apiece, but Baylor led in all non-shooting categories. The Lady Bears led in steals (7 to 4), blocks (7 to 3), assists (20 to 19), and had 5 fewer turnovers than Oregon State. But the Beavers were on fire on offense, shooting 45.3% overall and 78.9% from the stripe.

Oregon State senior Marie Gülich was the star of the game with 26 points and 9 rebounds. Kat Tudor also had a terrific game for the Beavers, scoring 16 points (including 4 3-pointers). Unsurprisingly, Baylor was led by Kalani Brown. Brown picked up 19 points and a game high 10 rebounds, but that wasn’t enough to overcome Oregon State’s offensive depth.

The Beavers will face the winner of (1) Louisville vs. (4) Stanford in the Elite Eight. Oregon State hasn’t played Louisville this season, but lost to Stanford by 3 points in February.