CORVALLIS — Oregon State shrugged off a slow start Friday, then did what No. 3 seeds often do in first-round NCAA women’s basketball tournament games.
Roll and advance.
Trailing by eight late in the first quarter, Oregon State quickly turned things in its favor and routed No. 14 seed Eastern Washington 73-51 Friday night at Gill Coliseum. The Beavers got control with a 27-6 run over a 10-minute stretch of the first half.
Since the NCAA went to a 64-team field in 1994, three seeds are 118-0 in first-round games against No. 14s. There wasn’t much danger of that changing Friday at Gill Coliseum, as the Beavers led by double digits throughout the second half.
Oregon State (25-7) advances to face Nebraska in a second-round game at 1 p.m. Sunday at Gill (TV on ESPN). The Cornhuskers beat Texas A&M 61-59 in Friday’s late game.
The Beavers’ win is potentially bittersweet. Raegan Beers scored 19 points, but left the game after the third quarter after suffering an apparent ankle injury. Beers lay on the floor for a couple minutes, got up and slowly walked to the bench, then left for the locker room with a trainer. Beers watched the game from the bench for most of the fourth quarter.
Dominika Paurova scored 17 points and Timea Gardiner 12 for Oregon State. The Beavers shot 55% (28 of 51), and out-rebounded Eastern Washington 45-26, with Beers grabbing a team-high nine boards.
Oregon State improved to 8-0 in first-round NCAA Tournament games under coach Scott Rueck.
Attendance for Friday’s doubleheader wasn’t to be announced until the second half of the second game, but it’s sure to be a Gill Coliseum NCAA Tournament record. The previous high was 6,074 in 2016.
Jamie Loera scored 21 points to lead Eastern Washington, which finished the season 29-6 with Big Sky regular-season and conference tournament titles.
Oregon State hadn’t played for two weeks and it showed early. The Beavers fumbled away many of their early offensive possessions, as they committed eight first-quarter turnovers. The Eagles took advantage, grabbing an 18-10 lead eight minutes into the game.
The sloppy play didn’t last long. OSU scored the final five points of the first quarter. It was just the start of something better. With Beers manhandling Eastern Washington inside and Paurova doing damage from the perimeter, OSU left the Eagles reeling with a 27-6 run.
In fewer than 12 minutes, Oregon State turned an eight-point deficit into a 39-27 halftime lead. Beers scored 18 of her 19 points during the first half.
Oregon State pushed the lead to 20 points seven minutes into the third quarter. Eastern Washington didn’t get closer than 17 points the rest of the game.
— Nick Daschel covers Oregon State athletics, in particular football and basketball, and can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.
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