Basketball is a game of runs, and on Friday night in Corvallis, Arizona women’s basketball was reminded of that the hard way.

With a little under four minutes remaining in the second half, the Wildcats found themselves up 26-24 against No. 10 Oregon State. From that point, the Beavers would go on a a 13-2 run to end the half, putting them up 37-28.

The ‘Cats would keep fighting, but in the end, that run did them in, and they wound up losing, 86-64.
After holding a lead in the first half, the closest the Wildcats could bring themselves to the Beavers in the second half was nine points, going down as much as 24.

The Wildcats came out of the gates slow, finding themselves down 11-2 early in the first, before battling back behind the great start of freshman Cate Reese, who had eight of Arizona’s 18 points, to make it a one-point lead for the Beavers, 19-18, entering the second quarter.

The second quarter was back and forth, with both the ‘Cats and the Beavs taking leads. In the last four minutes of the first half, OSU went on a 13-2 run that put in them in front heading into halftime, 37-28.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats would see their deficit grow to as much as 17 points, but were able to get the score to 60-49 entering the fourth quarter. 

Things wouldn’t get much better in the fourth quarter for the ‘Cats, who couldn’t seem to get anything going as the clock wound down, with a final score of 86-64 in favor of the Beavers.

Redshirt sophomore Aari McDonald, who, at halftime, had just seven points, finished the game with 20, her second lowest point total in the last six games, while also adding five rebounds and four assists.

Reese would finish with 18 points on 8-12 shooting, adding five rebounds herself. The 18 points for Reese was her highest point total in the last six games.

The Wildcats will finish their trip to the Northwest on Sunday afternoon, when they take on the No. 5 Oregon Ducks at 1 p.m.

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