For the first 12 minutes of last night’s game in the McKale Center, the Arizona women’s basketball team played such stifling defense that the first conference win at home seemed inevitable.

Or at least it would have been had they been able to score.

The Wildcats (8-13, 1-9 Pacific 10 Conference) jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and played with a swagger that the hometown crowd hadn’t seen yet this year. The defense allowed no penetration and was extremely quick to the ball, not allowing any open shots.

But eventually the swagger led to sloppiness on the offensive side of the ball, and despite shooting a respectable 40 percent from the field, Arizona was mired with turnovers.

Because of the turnovers the Wildcats failed to capitalize on a chance to put the game away early, and as UA head coach Niya Butts knows, that is an opportunity that can’t be missed.

“”It was a little bit of everything,”” Butts said after the game. “”We were fatigued, but things like that can’t happen. I just think it’s a lack of commitment to do the little things. But hats off to them, they did the things they needed to do to win.””

The inability to take advantage allowed the Beavers (13-7, 4-6 Pac-10) to come alive and, thanks in large part to seven 3-pointers late in the first half, put the game away for good.

“”(Oregon State’s shooting) was good,”” said freshman guard Courtney Clements. “”(Oregon State) was very good, and we didn’t do a good job stopping them.””

Despite the score, the Wildcats, as they’ve done all season long, refused to give up and showed signs of a comeback. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late.

“”We made some plays in the last three minutes of the game and showed some emotion, but we need to do those things for the whole 40 minutes,”” Butts said.

Clements was sharp from the field, scoring 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Sophomore forward Ify Ibekwe turned in another impressive outing, scoring 14 points and grabbing 8 rebounds.

“”Arizona’s record doesn’t indicate what kind of team they are,”” Oregon State head coach LaVonda Wagner said after the game. “”They have a good group of players and they play hard.””