Beavers Beat The Buzzer To Top USC Women’s Basketball 63-61 In Corvallis

CORVALLIS, ORE. — The USC women's basketball team turned away Oregon State's first look at a game-winner with a block from Jordan Sanders to end regulation, but the Beavers would get an overtime buzzer-beater to go to beat the visiting Trojans 63-61 tonight in Corvallis, Ore. USC had two players tally double-doubles in Jordyn Jenkins and Rayah Marshall, and all nine Trojans who played scored, although in the end it was OSU that emerged with the numbers that proved the difference. USC goes to 9-8 overall and to 2-5 in Pac-12 play with the loss, while Oregon State improves to 10-5, 3-2.

USC was the winner of a first-quarter shootout, and then things cooled off on the offensive ends in the next 10 minutes. After shooting 58.8 percent from the floor in the first 10 minutes, USC shot 26.7 percent in the next frame. And yet, USC was still ahead of the game by halftime, up 30-24 on 43.8-percent overall shooting to outpace Oregon State's 30.3 percent. The Beavers were ahead on the boards 24-16, but USC's balance gave the Trojans the advantage with all nine players to hit the court in the scoring column by the break. USC would hold a 10-point lead with 1:45 to go in the third, but the Beavers kept coming, fueled by 17 fourth-quarter points from Talia von Oelhoffen. Her fifth 3-pointer of the night would force overtime as the Beavers ended regulation on a 7-0 run.

When the final buzzer sounded on OSU's 63-61 overtime win, the Beavers had hit seven threes while shooting 31.4 percent overall from the floor. OSU was also 12-of-14 from the free-throw line. USC, by comparison, went 5-of-7 from the stripe and finished up with four three and a final 36.6-percent shooting effort overall. The Beavers had the final edge on the boards 47-37.

USC received a career-high 17 points from freshman Rayah Marshall, who had her second double-double in adding 12 rebounds. Sophomore Jordyn Jenkins notched her third career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Also hitting double digits tonight for USC was junior Alyson Miura with 10 points. Oregon State saw a hot-handed von Oelhoffen finish up with 31 points with five threes made and a perfect 6-for-6 effort from the line. Kennedy Brown also hit double digits for the Beavers with 11 points. 

After Oregon State edged ahead midway through the first frame, USC fired of a 7-0 surge sparked by USC's Oregon product Alyson Miura, who hit a bucket, nabbed a steal and hit a 3-pointer to take USC back ahead 16-14. Jordan Jenkins followed with another Trojan score, and USC was up 18-14 entering the 2-minute mark. Miura also had the last word of the first quarter, nailing another jumper to net USC a 22-18 lead entering the second. Buckets from Angel Jackson and then Jordan Sanders off a steal started off the next stretch. USC's scoring touch cooled after that, but OSU was in a similar situation. A floated from Kyra White made her the ninth Trojan to score in the first half, and USC would later grip a 30-24 advantage by halftime.

The Beavers gnawed USC's lead down to two with a 6-0 run during the third before Rayah Marshall cut in and delivered a turnaround jumper in the paint to nudge USC ahead 34-30 at 5:20. That was the spark on a 10-2 scoring rally for the Trojans, who crafted a 42-32 lead on another Miura three with 1:45 on the clock. That made Miura the first Trojan to hit double digits in the game. OSU would respond with the last two baskets of the frame, and it was back to a six-point margin with USC leading 42-36 entering the fourth. The Beavers blasted a couple big 3-pointers and clawed to within one three minutes into the fourth before Sanders landed her first three of the game to get USC up 50-46 with 6:00 remaining in regulation. Marshall would work her way to a career-high scoring effort with a three-point play converted soon after notching her fourth block of the night. That got USC into a 55-48 advantage entering the 3-minute mark, but the Beavers benefited from USC fouls for a string of free throws and then an equalizing 3-pointer that knotted it at 55-55 with 1:15 on the clock. A wild minute would pass next, with OSU calling timeout to set up for the final 18 seconds. Sanders issued a block on the Beavers' last look, and the teams rolled on into overtime. 

The score snarled up three times, with USC's Clarice Akunwafo leveling it at 61-61 with 1:22 on the clock. Again, the Beavers would get the chance for a final look, and they would get it with a score down low to beat the buzzer and end things as a 63-61 Oregon State overtime victory. 

NOTABLE:
- With five blocks tonight, FR Rayah Marshall extended her run of games with at least one block to 12 straight. 
- Marshall also recorded her second double-double with a career-high 17 points along with 12 rebounds.
- With 12 points tonight, SO Jordyn Jenkins has scored in double digits in eight straight games
- Jenkins also recorded her third double-double in hauling in a career-high 14 rebounds.
- JR Alyson Miura had a career-high  four steals.
- This was USC's first overtime game this season.
- USC was without starting F Alissa Pili and G Tera Reed tonight — both out with injuries and listed as day-to-day. 

NEXT: 
USC now heads to Eugene to take on No. 19 Oregon in a 12 p.m. Pac-12 clash on Sunday (Jan. 30).