Oregon State’s four-game win streak ended with its worst offensive outing in more than 13 years.
The Beavers shot just 24.5% from the field, including 1 of 21 from three, in a 67-37 loss to Gonzaga Thursday night at McCarthey Athletic Center.
It was the fewest points and worst shooting game for OSU since a 49-35 loss to Michigan State on Dec. 19, 2012.
“I thought we got some good looks but they disrupted a lot of what we wanted to do in this game,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said on postgame radio. “It was hard to get to the rim. I thought their defense played with a nice intensity.”
Tiara Bolden’s nine points led Oregon State (17-7, 9-2 WCC), which committed 20 turnovers that led to 20 points for Gonzaga.
Lauren Whittaker had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Ines Bettencourt had 15 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Bulldogs (17-7, 9-2), who pulled even with the Beavers atop the WCC with seven games left in the regular season.
Bettencourt, who entered the night averaging 5.7 points and shooting 34.6% from beyond the arc, scored 12 points in the first quarter on 4 of 6 shooting from three to give Gonzaga a 19-13 lead after one.
Despite shooting just 28.2% from the field, the Bulldogs took a 36-23 lead into halftime thanks to a 13-0 advantage in points off turnovers.
“I thought our rebounding really struggled tonight and got to give them a ton of credit for that,” Rueck said. “They were the most physical team tonight and that’s been a weakness of ours that we have to keep getting better and better at. We didn’t make shots to offset it.
With the game out of hand, Rueck emptied OSU’s bench early in the second half and no starter played more than 25 minutes. But offensive execution was even poorer, with the bench only scoring eight points in the second half and OSU shooting 17.2% after the break.
Jenna Villa had eight points and six rebounds while Kennedie Shuler finished with just two points on 1 of 5 shooting, three rebounds and committed six turnovers.
“It wasn’t dropping for anybody tonight,” Rueck said. “This was clearly not going to be our night tonight; early in the game it was pretty evident. I was like, ‘Well, how can we get better? How can we advance the team in whatever way we can? Because ultimately we’re playing for three days in March.”